Look What You've Done
by ItsWhatIWrite
Summary: It's been nearly two years and he wants to be a part of their lives. Will she let him?
1. Chapter 1

Look What You've Done

The bedroom door moved just enough for the little boy's head full of dark hair to sneak a glance into the room. He giggled, pushed the door all the way open and tiptoed across the room. His batman socks were peeking out from beneath the sweat pants that were too big on him. They were his absolute favorite because Uncle Artie got them for him when he went to Comic-Con. "Mama!" He climbed onto the bed and scrambled over his mother's sleeping form. He laid down on his stomach next to her, so close that his nose was almost touching hers. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" He said in a sing-song voice.

The young mother smiled but kept her eyes shut, "I thought those were my words?" She'd heard him the minute he'd climbed out of his own bed and walked the short distance across the hall to her room. Growing up, she was never one to be a light sleeper, but after his first night home, even sound asleep her senses were always on alert and she'd be awake at the sound of a footfall or sniffle.

"Nope!" He giggled again, "you were asleep and I was awake! You're the sleepyhead!"

She hummed and opened her eyes, the hazel eyes that he had inherited from his father met hers. "Is that so?"

"Uh-huh." Rachel pulled her son into her arms and started tickling him, his body flared and he giggled, "ma…mama!"

"A tickle fest without me?" Santana pretended to pout from the doorway, she took a sip of the freshly brewed coffee and tried to hide her smirk. She held her hand out for Brody, "come on, buddy. Let's get started on breakfast and let your mom get a shower, ok?"

Brody jumped up but stopped and looked back down at his mother, "you better hurry 'cause we're supposed to go to the park, ok?"

"Don't worry, baby. I haven't forgotten."

"That's 'cause you 'member everything!" He climbed back over his mother and clambered out of the bed. He took Santana's hand and let her lead him to the kitchen.

Rachel rolled over and smiled to herself as she heard her son continue to tell Santana in great detail about the last time they went to the Central Park. For four year old Brody Josiah Puckerman, there was always a story to tell.

The ringing of her cell phone pulled her from her thoughts. She lifted her head up enough to see the top of her night stand and reached for her phone. When the caller I.D. flashed across the screen, she closed her eyes and sighed, silently waging an internal war on whether she should answer it or not. There would just be an extra layer of guilt-tripping if she didn't. "Hello, Nora."

"Good morning, sweetie. It's not too early is it? Of course it's not, knowing the early bird my grandson is. How is he? You haven't returned my last few phone calls. I was worried something was wrong."

Rachel shook her head, "nothing's wrong, we've just been really busy. I've started a new work shop and Brody's been attending a lot of day camps." The disapproving hum from her son's grandmother didn't go unnoticed by Rachel. She'd had this argument with Nora Puckerman way too many times; Brody was a thriving and smart four year old who needed to be exposed to different mind stimulating atmospheres. "Yesterday he spent the day at a day camp hosted by this really nice temple not too far from where we live."

"Oh really? I suppose he had a nice time?"

"He loved it."

"What are his plans for today?"

Rachel sat up and leaned against the headboard, "Well I have the rare day off so I'm taking him to the park."

"That's lovely." There was a pause and Rachel could hear the shuffling in the background, "Noah is being released on Monday."

Rachel was not expecting that. "Oh?"

"I know, I was a little shocked considering we were told January by the earliest, five months early is quite a jump." Rachel pulled the phone away from her mouth and took in a breath. She rubbed at her chest, feeling the sudden tightness starting to develop. "Rachel, dear, are you still there?"

She took a breath, "yeah, I'm still here."

Twenty-two months, that's how long it'd been since Rachel has seen Noah Puckerman. She'd sat silently in the back of the courtroom as the judge handed down the sentence. Her blood shot eyes followed him as he was handcuffed and led out of the courtroom. He glanced over his shoulder and sought her out, their eyes would have met had she not already jumped out of her seat and rushed out of the courtroom.

Two days later, she packed up her and Brody's belongings and drove up to New York City with Santana Lopez.

I know, right? Santana Lopez? What in the world?

Rachel had dropped out of college after she found out she was pregnant and Puck had decided against going to college. So by the time Brody was two, they were young parents struggling to provide for their small family.

They fought so much and some nights, Puck just wouldn't come home. On one of those lonely nights as Rachel silently cried her heart out into the darkness of their bedroom, Santana called and told her Puck…her Noah had been arrested.

"…and so I'm driving to Columbus to be there when he's released, I talked to him last night for a little bit and he seemed excited. And you know Noah, he doesn't show excitement very well…"

Rachel found herself fading in and out of Nora's ramblings.

"Hey Rach," Santana called from down the hall, "food is gonna get cold!"

"And waffles aren't good when they're cold!" Brody added.

"Uh, Nora?"

"What is it, dear?"

"I have to go. Breakfast is getting cold. I'll call you later, bye." She hung up, ok, it was rude of her but she couldn't even focus.

Rachel had put forth her best acting skills and went through breakfast as if nothing was wrong. The three of them walked to the park and Brody rushed quickly over to the playground to join the other kids.

As the young mother kept her watchful gaze on her son, she found herself noticing the different mannerisms that reminded her so much of his father.

"While on the one hand, I've never seen an Asian that hot in my entire life…and on the other hand, his friend, Matt…." Santana closed her eyes for a brief second and smirked, "there's just something about him that makes me want to jump him…" Rachel made no attempt to show she was paying attention at all. Santana sighed and nudged her friend with her elbow.

Rachel blinked and knew by the look on her friend's face she'd been caught not listening, "I'm sorry, San. What were you saying?"

"Spill."

"Spill what?" She turned her attention to her son, knowing if she'd so much as halfway glance back in the Latina's direction that her resolve would crumble.

"You're a little too quiet for my liking. Yes, I know you've toned down your Berry craziness over the years but you still talk a mile a minute so I don't know what happened…"

"He gets out on Monday."

"Who…oh."

"My thoughts exactly."

Eyes glued on the boy she'd helped her best friend raise for nearly two years, Santana asked, "so what are you going to do?"

Rachel shook her head, "I don't know. I'm conflicted, to be honest. I'm not moving back to Ohio, if that's what you're at all suggesting. I've uprooted Brody once and I won't do it again. This is our home, Santana. This is where I know how to provide for my son…I can't leave."

"What if Puck wants to see him?" Santana urged. "What if he wants to see you?"

"Then I guess he'll have to find a way to New York, won't he?"

"And will you shut the door in his face?"

Rachel huffed, why was Santana taking Puck's side? He's the one that had messed up and wound up in prison, effectively abandoning his then girlfriend and two year old son! "I think it's rather unnecessary to be having this conversation. I don't even know if Noah wants anything to do with Brody or me."

Santana scoffed, not at all amused by her best friend's antics, "come on, we both know that's a load of bull. Puck loved you guys then and he loves you guys now."

"Love isn't always enough, San." Rachel whispered. She tossed her empty coffee cup into the nearest trash can and grabbed her purse. "Brody," she called, "it's time to go!"

Rachel spent all weekend on edge, if it weren't for the show she was working on to keep her busy, she was sure she would have gone crazy. Monday came and went and while she wasn't expecting much, she had at least expected a call from Puck's mom.

But nothing.

She'd gotten a call from Quinn Sunday night asking if she'd heard. They talked a bit before Brody interrupted the hushed conversation with a book in his hands and requesting she read him a night-night story.

Kurt sent her a text Monday morning. He had decided to take a little time before the start of the new semester and spend some time in Lima with his father. So he'd heard from Finn what was going on and asked if she was ok. Pushing aside her gut instinct to snap at him and tell him she was fine, she told him she'd manage.

So come that following Saturday when she still hadn't heard from any of the Puckermans back in Ohio, Rachel had settled with the possibility that maybe Noah really didn't care anymore.

Her heart broke all over again.

She stopped to talk to her doorman for five minutes like she did whenever she had a few extra minutes to give. She jogged down the few steps and took the sidewalk to her right.

"Rachel."

She froze mid-step at the sound of his voice. She didn't turn around, but she stood still and she could hear his heavy footsteps moving to stand next to her.

"Can you look at me please?"

_I'm not sure where this is going...it's just something that's been floating around in my mind. Review if you like/have suggestions/think I should continue._


	2. Chapter 2

_Holy shiz! 30 reviews for one chapter? You guys amaze me! I never expected that! I had a hard time writing this second chapter because I felt it had to be perfect so I hope I did all your expectations justice! I think it's pretty good, I don't want to drag things out too much. Once again, thank you soooo much for reviewing and I hope you continue to read and review. Also, a few of you mentioned Puck's eyes...I fixed that. Idk why I wrote blue. lol. Enjoy!_

Chapter Two

She ignored his plea to look at him and instead kept her gaze down; Puck closed the distance between them and his worn black Nike's came into her line of sight. As she stood frozen in her spot, she played over the different things that she could say and the different scenarios that could result. But no matter what she said, she would be contradicting some part of her emotions.

She had told herself, she had _promised _herself she was going to be strong when this moment finally came. She was going to look him in the eyes, stand her ground and tell him that she didn't need him; that Brody didn't need him. It didn't matter that it would be a bunch of lies; her acting skills had been fine-tuned over time.

Unfortunately, her ability to speak on the whim and disguise her emotions always failed her whenever he was around, even if it had been twenty two months and seventeen days since she'd last seen him.

"This really isn't a good time."

His jaw clenched, "will it ever be a good time?"

He wasn't stupid, he'd expected her to be angry and hurt. Not getting a single response from her to the weekly letters he'd written her was a clear indication that her feelings towards everything were still really raw. He didn't blame her, after all, he was the one that royally fucked up and left her to raise a two year old all alone.

But he was going to fight to make things right; he'd promised himself he'd never be his father and abandoned his child, and although the circumstances were different, he had abandoned his child. "So you're not even going to give me a chance?"

Rachel's head snapped up and she glared at Puck, her eyes flashed with anger, "you're unbelievable, you know that? How dare you try to make me feel guilty about wanting to protect my son!"

"He's my son too!"

"Really?" Rachel scoffed, "he doesn't even remember you, Puck! You were hardly around even before you messed up and found yourself in prison!"

Her words cut through him like a knife, his own son didn't remember him. He shook his head and went in defense mode, "Because I was always working! No matter what I did, how many hours of overtime I picked up or big my paycheck was, it was just never enough for you! You were constantly nagging about this or that and you didn't understand that I couldn't fucking do everything!"

"No you don't!" Rachel pointed her finger at him, "you're not going to blame this on me! It's not my fault you decided to start selling drugs as a means to support your family!" He hadn't changed much, she couldn't help but notice as she yelled at him. The mohawk was gone, and if anything, he looked even more toned than before. The t-shirt, the jeans, and the shoes, all things he'd owned before he went to prison…all things she'd helped him pick out and buy.

"Miss Berry?" Rachel looked up, her eyes softening slightly at the concern her elderly doorman was showing her, "is everything alright?"

Rachel flashed her gaze back over to Puck and then back to her doorman, "everything's fine. Could you do me a favor, though?" The man nodded, "Don't ever let him in the building."

Her doorman obliged, Rachel thanked him and waved down a taxi. Within seconds a taxi was in front of her and she was pulling open the door. Right before climbing in, she glanced over her shoulder, "don't even think about following me."

The meeting didn't last long, they never did; not with this current director. It was something that annoyed Rachel more than anything, when she was a part of something, she put her all in it; she always had. But this guy had a million different projects going on and apparently if one didn't make it was no big deal to him. But since Santana was at some study session with a few classmates and Shelby had taken Brody for the afternoon, Rachel had a few more hours of free time on her hands.

She was almost positive that if she went back home, Puck would still be standing outside her apartment complex. If Puck was anything, he was determined. She figured that out after senior year when he spent two months wooing her. After a nasty (and final breakup) with Finn Hudson at Tina Cohen-Chang's Halloween party, Puck had jumped at his chance (apparently after a lot of urging by Artie Abrams) to ask her out. It wasn't until Santana's New Year's Eve party that she had finally given in. It was still probably one of the better ways she'd rung in a new year.

She stopped for some coffee at Margo's, a little café just a few blocks from her apartment. It had quickly turned into one of her favorite spots in New York City, they carried a wide range of items and a handful of them were kid friendly. The elderly couple that owned it were the sweetest people ever and so good to Brody, they'd even added a new drink to their menu specifically for him; Iced Chocolate Milk. It had been after one particularly long and trying day for Rachel, she'd just been turned down for a role because the other girl in the running had no problem fixing her face like the director had asked. So she'd stopped at Margo's to get an iced coffee and something for Brody to snack on. Well Brody had thrown a fit because he wanted an iced coffee, too. That's when Noelle Margo added some ice and chocolate milk to a plastic cup, stuck a straw through the lid, wrote Brody's name on the side of it and handed it to him.

A quick trip to the grocery store to get a few things followed her stop for coffee and she decided she could no longer put off going back to her apartment.

Sure enough, when Rachel crossed the street in front of her apartment, she caught sight of Puck sitting on the steps in front of the building. Waging the internal war within herself, she took a breath, straightened her shoulders and walked right by him and up the steps.

He stood up and called after her, "I'll wait!" Rachel shook off her doorman's offer to call the police and turned back around. Puck pulled his hands out of his pockets and threw them out, "I've got all the time in the world, Rach. All my time, it's all for you and Brody!"

She shook her head, "you don't understand, Puck." Her gaze wavered and she looked away. "I can't trust you anymore, Puck," she admitted. "And…and if I can't trust you then I can't trust you to be around my son."

"_Our _son," Puck argued. "He's just as much mine as he is yours, Rachel."

"Really? Because last time I checked, I'm the one that's been raising him for the past two years, not you!"

"Is that your only argument for not allowing me to see him? If so, it's going to get really old really fast."

Rachel huffed, "it's not my only argument."

"Well then throw them on me, Rach! I've had almost two years to come up with reasons as to why you should give me another chance! What happened to that Rachel who always gave people second chances? Huh? How many chances did you give Finn back in high school? And what about your _mom_? She's probably the one person that has screwed you over more than I did and the minute she opened her arms and said she wanted her daughter again, you came running to the city! You took our son out of the only home he'd ever known and brought him here for purely selfish reasons!"

"Stop it, just stop! Finn and my mom have absolutely nothing to do with this! And you know nothing about the struggles I've gone through to provide for Brody! But I've done it! I've managed to provide for him while doing something I love! So excuse me for wanting to still chase my dreams after having a kid at twenty!"

Puck cursed and kicked at piece of trash, he was doing exactly what he swore he wouldn't do; upsetting her. "Please," he pleaded, his eyes boring through her eyes, "a chance, Rach…a chance is all I ask."

"I promised myself I wouldn't do this," she whispered.

"Give me a chance?"

She shook her head, "break in front of you."

"I really did make a list," Puck pulled the wrinkled slip of paper from his pocket and fiddled with it. He cleared his throat, "one, I'm sorry. Two, I…"

"Noah…"

"See! We're getting somewhere already, you called me Noah."

She bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling. Her resolve was slowly deteriorating, it always did with him. "I don't know how to do this. I mean, normally I would have prepared a list, a chart, _something _and come January I'm sure I would have had that." She sighed, "but I just don't know."

"I'll do anything."

"I know you will, that's what worries me." A confused look past over Puck's face and she continued, "just like you would do anything to provide for your family."

He shook his head, "I won't go back there, Rach. I swear. I gotta degree while I was there, I didn't even know you could go to school while you were in prison, but it's legit. I'm here in New York to stay."

"You have a job?"

"Working on it."

"You have a place to stay?"

"Artie is letting me crash at his place." He shrugged, "he's one of the few people that visited me. He still believes in me…"

"You know I still believe in you, Noah…"

"Then give me another chance," he pleaded.

Rachel struggled with the heavy bag of groceries in her arms. Puck reached out to remove the load from her arms but she shrugged him off, "you most certainly just can't wait around here. The last thing I want is for Brody to see you in passing and ask who you are. I haven't prepared the proper way to introduce my son to his father."

Puck bit back the remark that his son had already met him and instead focused on the possible maybe that had been implied, "So you'll let me back into your lives?"

"Just give me a few days, ok?"

Knowing that was as good as he was going to get right now, he nodded and pulled out his phone, "can we exchange numbers?"

* * *

><p>If there was anything Rachel always made time for, it was one on one time with her son. Unfortunately for her, since Artie worked in the business of video game productions, every time a new game came out, he would get a copy for Brody. Every now and then, she could convince her son to do something else, but not this evening.<p>

They were currently playing Guitar Hero: World Tour and as always, Brody had dibs on the guitar.

The round ended and the four year old sighed in an over dramatic fashion that he had no doubt picked up from his mother and dropped the guitar to his lap. He titled his head over at his mom, "You're not even trying!"

Rachel smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, baby. It's been a long day."

Always one in picking up other's emotions, Brody discarded the guitar and climbed into his mother's lap. He put his little hands on either side of her face, "don't be sad, mama. I love you."

Rachel blinked away the tears, "I love you too, baby. And you know who makes me happy?"

"Me!"

"Always." She kissed his nose and pulled him closer.

He squealed and shook his head, "mama! Don't make the kissy fishy face!"

"Can't I kiss my baby boy?" She started to tickle him, "or maybe I should tickle him instead? Huh?"

"Maaama!" Brody wiggled out of his mother's embrace, "no more, no more!"

"Ok, ok," Rachel stopped and let Brody settle himself on the couch next to. "What sounds good for dinner tonight? We can make some spaghetti, we can order some Chinese or I have this new casserole recipe…" her phone ringing ended her listing of dinner options. She looked around her on the couch, "do you see my phone?"

Brody picked the phone up from the coffee table, "There's no picture, I don't know who it is."

Rachel took the phone from Brody's hand, hit the silent button and sat it back down. "I'll call them back later, right now it's mommy and Brody time. So what do you want for dinner? Santana won't be home until later so it's just me and you."

Brody grinned, "something with chicken!"

A few hours later, Rachel slipped into the bathtub and her body immediately relaxed against the warm water. She couldn't remember the last time she wasn't rushing around, taking five minute showers before hurrying off to do something that was work or Brody related.

When Santana came home she had offered to take the little rugrat (Santana's words, not hers) out for some after dinner ice-cream. Rachel had guiltily jumped at the opportunity to be alone for a bit. She needed to think, and as skilled as she was at multi-tasking, this was just something she had to think about while she was completely alone.

So she knows she's being selfish; it shouldn't be all about her, it should be about Brody. And it is, to an extent; she doesn't want Brody to have his father come back in his life and get attached only to have Puck mess up and disappear again. She wasn't lying when she told Puck that Brody didn't remember him (sure, maybe there were some bits and pieces of memories but he was only two when Puck had been sent to prison); but Rachel remembered the months after when Brody would ask her where his daddy was.

There was one particular night, their first night in New York City, when Brody was splashing around in his bathtub. He'd giggled as his mother started to lather the shampoo in his hair and he'd asked her to put it in a mohawk, just like daddy's. It was at that moment that his brows scrunched up and he looked up at his mom and asked where his daddy was.

Weeks turned into months and Brody eventually stopped asking where his daddy was. On occasion, especially after a day spent with other kids, he would ask where his dad was. It wasn't the image of Puck he had in his mind, but the image of that father figure that he heard other kids talk about.

The water eventually turned cold and Rachel climbed out. She pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a gray hoody that had become hers back in high school and trudged to bed. On her way, she glanced in Brody's room, it was still empty. Santana had probably taken him to the park to wear off the ice-cream.

She hit the fourth speed dial on her cell phone. It didn't even complete a full ring before it was answered. "So how'd it go?"

Rachel raised a brow, "how'd you know?" It didn't take long for it to click, "You bought the ticket for him, didn't you?"

"I...uh…" Quinn stuttered, "I wanted to tell you, Rach, really! But…well, yeah. For once, Sam convinced me to keep my mouth shut."

"I see. Blame it on your boyfriend." Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes, "you certainly prepared quite a defense, didn't you?"

"Oh come on, don't be like that. It was just a spur of the moment decision. Sam and I were in town for his mother's birthday. We made a last minute stop at the grocery store and next thing I know, we're running right into Puck."

"The grocery store would be one of the first places he'd go. Let me guess, he was stocking up on beef jerky, cheese puffs and beer?"

Quinn hummed, "he bought a few other things, too. So back to my original question, how'd it go?"

"It was a bit tense at first, I suppose you could say. He basically cornered me outside of my apartment and I just left him standing there. When I came back a few hours later, he was still there." She sighed, "if anything, he's persistent."

"And did you guys talk?"

"More like yelled so loud my doorman asked if he should call the police. Just what I need, all of my neighbors knowing even more of my business." Rachel could practically see the disapproving look that was surely on Quinn's face, "he just always finds a way to rile up my emotions."

"And vice, versa. So do I need to cut my trip to Lima short and fly back to New York or can you guys figure this out yourselves?"

"I don't know why you guys are all taking his side," Rachel grumbled.

"We're not taking his side, Rach."

"You practically are! So is Santana! He has Artie and Sam! Why can't you guys be on my side?"

"Ok, ok, you're acting just a little bit immature, don't you think?"

"It's just…it still hurts," she confessed.

"I know, sweetie but-"

"Mama!"

Rachel sighed and hurriedly wiped away the stray tear before her son appeared, "Brody is calling for me, I have to go."

* * *

><p><em>Please continue to review!<em> _Suggestions and criticism is welcome!_


	3. Chapter 3

Look What You've Done

Chapter Three

The four year old tried to muffle his coughs with his hands, "Mama?"

Rachel looked up from the book that she'd finally gotten around to reading, "what is it, sweetie?" She glanced at the clock on the bedside table and then back over to her son, "I tucked you into bed an hour ago. Are you ok?"

"I have a yucky cough." His bare feet padded across the carpeted room, "can I sleep with you tonight?"

"You really need to sleep in your own bed, Brody. That's what it's for. Let's get you some cough syrup and a glass of water and then you can try to go back to bed, ok?"

Getting Brody to go to sleep and stay asleep in his own bed was something Rachel constantly struggled with. He was her baby and she loved the feeling of him cuddling up to her side and sleeping soundly because he knew she would protect him from anything. But Brody needed to sleep in his own bed, no matter how much he fought it; co-sleeping was not something Rachel totally agreed with.

But it seemed her baby boy always seemed to find a way to get what he wanted. Half an hour later, Rachel was on the left side of her bed with Brody on the right, hugging his batman blanket and curling into his mother. His coughing had died down a bit once the cough syrup took effect, but every few seconds he would squirm and Rachel obviously wouldn't go to sleep in her own bed if her son was wide awake.

"I'm not tired, Mama."

"I know, but you need to try to go to sleep." She pulled the covers tighter around them, "and you really need to go back to your own bed, I'm sure it's much cooler than my boring bed."

He huffed and stuck his bottom lip out, "but I wanna stay with you."

Rachel sighed, she'd caved the minute he'd climbed into bed with her, "just for tonight. And that's it, but you have to go to sleep."

An hour later, both mother and son were still awake. Complaining that he felt warm, Rachel took his temperature but thankfully it was normal. She'd let him have another glass of water, which turned in to him having to go to the bathroom.

It went on like this for a few more hours until Brody had finally given up and fell asleep curled into his mother's side. His breathing was louder than normal and he sounded congested, a sure sign that he was probably getting sick. She made a mental note to check his temperature again in the morning and snuggled beneath the covers, trying to go to sleep.

She found it difficult to fall asleep, though. Her mind wandered back to all the times Puck had been so good at lulling Brody to sleep.

_The tears rolled silently down the young mother's face as she tried to sooth her six week old son; she'd spent the past hour and a half trying everything she could think of to calm his cries. She swaddled him, tried getting him to drink some water from his bottle, tried breastfeeding him (or at least letting him suck on her breast, something the pediatrician had suggested), letting him lay on his stomach (with careful observation), and she had even sang to him. According to the pediatrician, he was just colicky and there wasn't much that could be done. A lot of babies within their first months experienced it and it was completely natural. _

_How was it natural that a mother couldn't even calm her own son down?_

_She'd cancelled dinner with Quinn and Sam, and Puck wouldn't be home for at least another hour; so she was left to her own devices for the next sixty minutes. Puck had a knack of being able to calm Brody down, something that Rachel was occasionally jealous of but had learned to usually let go of. _

"_How about a bath?" She whispered into Brody's ear while still rocking him. "Maybe the warm water will help, huh?" _

_She'd tried earlier to put him in his swing, something he normally loved, but he had just cried louder the second he lost contact with her. _

"_I would love a bath right about now," she said more to herself than to Brody. "Ok, mommy's going to sit you down just so she can go get your bathtub, ok?" She laid Brody down in the bassinet and braced herself for his cries. Sure enough, the minute she removed her hands, his cries intensified. "Just for a second, baby, I promise." _

_Rachel rushed to the bathroom and retrieved the little bathtub and everything she needed to give Brody a bath. She hurriedly set it up in the kitchen sink and rushed back over to the bassinet and picked Brody back up. Supporting his head, she held him close to her and kissed his head, "Mommy is so sorry." _

_The bath had seemed to help at first, but after a few minutes Brody was back to fussing and crying. She didn't leave him in there very long, dealing with a crying baby was hard enough but dealing with a crying baby while trying to bathe him was just something Rachel wasn't sure she could manage. _

_So she'd ended up back where she started, in the chair in the corner of Brody's nursery and rocking him while her own tears continued to fall. He'd curled his little body into hers and grasped ahold of her shirt with his tiny hands and fussed. _

_She heard the apartment door open and shut, the thud from Puck's bag falling to the ground next to the door. "Rach?" She tried to sniff away the tears as his footfalls became louder._

_Puck rounded the corner to the nursery and stopped, his heart broke at the scene before him; watching the two most important people in his life crying._

"_He won't stop," Rachel sobbed, holding on to Brody for dear life. "I don't know how to make him better." _

"_Hey, hey," Puck whispered, he leaned down and silently asked for permission to take him from her. She sniffed, and moved the infant away from her chest so Puck could get a secure hold on him. Supporting Brody's head with one hand and his body with the other, he boosted the infant up over his shoulder and started to sway. _

_Puck started to hum and Brody turned his head, burying his face in the crook of his father's neck; the vibrations coming from his father's throat were soothing. It took a while, but Brody had eventually calmed down and soon his heavy eyes blinked a few times before exhaustion finally took over and he fell asleep. _

_Puck put Brody down in his bassinet and breathed a sigh of relief as he stayed asleep. He turned his attention to Rachel, she was trying to wipe away the tears but he could see the new ones falling in their place._

"_I don't know what I'd do without you," Rachel whispered in awe. _

_Puck took her hand and led her to their own bedroom across the hall, "well you'll never have to find out. I promise." _

On the outside, Rachel managed to hold herself together, afraid if she started crying, she'd wake up Brody. On the inside, though, her heart broke all over again. She couldn't handle anymore broken promises. She _had _to be sure that Puck was going to do right by Brody this time.

The next morning, Rachel stood anxiously outside the apartment complex across town.

She had debated on the best way to reintroduce Brody to his father; should it be in the comfort of their own apartment or should it be in a relaxed setting such as a trip to the park? Should it be over breakfast or just a gathering of the three of them in the living room? Should she even introduce him as Brody's father right away or should she let Brody warm up to him?

Santana had offered her presence and while a part of Rachel wanted the support, this was something she had to do on her own without using one of her friends as a crutch.

Rachel had decided she wanted to meet up with Puck a few more times before letting him back into their son's life. She knew it would take quite some time before she was able to fully trust him again, but she had to feel modestly comfortable around him before she'd allow him around Brody again. She didn't expect the aching in her heart every time she met his hazel eyes to end any time soon (if ever), but she needed to see the adjustments he was making for himself in the city, first.

So she'd finally gave in and returned his call the next morning and now, here she was, three days after seeing him for the first time in nearly two years, waiting for him outside of Artie's apartment.

Artie had finally gotten up the nerve to call her the day before and explain everything to her. She wasn't mad at him, she couldn't be mad at him. He had done so much for her and Brody since they'd moved to New York. He basically held the title as Brody's favorite uncle; he was such a good influence on him, something he'd been for Puck back in high school.

She sipped on the lukewarm cup of coffee as she waited; Artie's apartment was a good fifteen minutes away and between the stop for coffee, the stop by the theater and the wait for the subway, she'd ordered the coffee nearly an hour ago.

"Let me guess, a medium regular coffee with two sugars and some soy milk?"

Rachel looked up at his voice, she'd been so lost within her thoughts that she didn't even hear him approach her.

She smiled tightly and held the cup up, "a large."

"Need the extra boost?"

"Brody didn't sleep well last night which in turn means that I didn't sleep well last night."

Puck furrowed his brow, ignoring the slight ache in his stomach for not being able to try to help soothe his son to sleep. "Is he ok?"

Maybe she shouldn't have said anything, "just a bad cough." She looked up him and down, "going someplace worth dressing up for after breakfast?"

He smoothed out the invisible wrinkles on his royal blue button up shirt and smiled proudly, "a job interview."

"A job interview?"

"Yep. Artie hooked me up with some of his business associates that are looking for some extra help for some music programming."

"I really hope this isn't some friendly favor on Artie's part, asking his friends to interview another friend for a job. He's done enough for you, Noah, first letting you stay at his apartment and now this."

Puck rolled his eyes, "really, Rach? Am I just not good enough to find a job on my own? Is that how it is?"

"It was a perfectly reasonable question and I see no need for you to get so defensive about it. I have to know that you can stand on your own two feet so to speak before I trust you to be able to handle a four year old." Rachel took a sip of her coffee, her eyes glued to him over the brim of her cup. "So where's your tie?"

"I couldn't find anything that matched," he grumbled, angry at her interrogation. He'd been so excited to tell her about his job interview and now he felt like a loser all over again. "And this is the best dress shirt I have."

"Well you know you need a tie, right?"

He shrugged and slipped his hands into the pockets of his khakis, "You always kicked ass at picking clothes out for me."

"Noah…"

"Please, Rach? This job interview is for all of us. For you and Brody, and for _us._"

She sighed, feeling herself cave already. "You know, I really wish you'd stop throwing Brody's name out every time you want to strengthen your argument. It's rather unfair to him and to me."

"It's not to strengthen my argument, it _is _my argument!"

"Fine," Rachel caved. "This will actually give us more of a chance to talk. There's a lot I don't know about you, anymore."

Puck scoffed, "Rach, in case you didn't get the memo, there's not much to do in prison. If anything, I should be asking you about the past two years."

"I'm sure your mother has kept you informed." Rachel wasn't ready to talk about the past two years. The lonely nights where she would cry herself to sleep, the long work days where she would go almost two days without seeing Brody, the endless times she'd question how good of a mom she really was and if she was doing everything right.

"Well according to her, you've kind of kept her out of the loop."

Rachel gasped angrily, "that is not true! I know your mother wasn't happy about my decision to move Brody and I to New York but I have always kept her up to date on what's going on with Brody. Every time we are in Lima, we go and visit her." She huffed, "just because I ignore some of her calls or choose not to follow some of her advice, does not mean I've kept her out of the loop!"

Shopping for a tie hadn't gone how Puck had planned; after basically accusing her (her words, not his) of not allowing his mother to watch her only grandchild grow up, the entire search for a tie had been uncomfortable and tense. In fact, Puck was pretty sure Rachel had just picked out the first matching tie she could find that was within his budget and told him to buy it.

There was the short lived, reminiscing moment where she helped him tie the tie and straighten it. God, how he'd wanted nothing more than to kiss her, but he knew he had a long way to go and Rachel Berry wasn't one who liked to be surprised with kisses.

Puck checked the time on his cell phone as they waited patiently at the cross walk. "I still have some time if you wanted to grab something to eat."

Rachel adjusted her designer purse on her shoulder, "maybe you should just head on over to wherever your interview is. Being early is always a great way to impress a possible employer."

"I was really looking forward to breakfast with you." He smirked, "if I recall, breakfast was usually the best part of the day, especially when it was in bed."

Rachel stopped walking, ignoring the stranger who nearly cussed her out and turned to look up at Puck. She crossed her arms, "I really think we need to get a few things straight, Noah."

"Ok…" Puck drawled out.

"I…" she jumped as Puck grabbed her elbow and started moving, "Noah! What are you doing?"

"Getting us out of the middle of a fucking stampede." He motioned to the empty chairs outside of a small café, "can't we at least sit?" He watched Rachel take a seat and he knew it was really the last thing she wanted to be doing. "I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of sitting down, wasn't our original plan to have breakfast?"

"Well yes, but that was before you basically accused me of forbidding your mother from seeing Brody." She shook her head when the waiter started to approach them, the look in her eyes daring him to tell her they had to order something if they wanted to sit there.

"Well look at it from her side, Rachel! My mom, the one that has been there for you since we dated for that week in sophomore year, and helped us with everything when it came to your pregnancy and providing for Brody, was basically kicked to the curb when Shelby came calling from New York!"

"Why is it no matter what I've done, it's been the wrong thing? For as long as I can remember, all of my choices have been wrong! Do you know, 'til this day, my fathers still insist that getting together with you in high school was the worst thing I could have possibly done for my future career? My career that they spent thousands of dollars on vocal lessons, dance lessons and singing lessons all went to waste because of you!"

"Rachel-"

"And 'til this day, I still tell them you were one of the best things that ever happened to me! You gave me my son, you gave me love that I had never felt before and I…" she choked on a sob, "and I want it back so much, Noah. I want us back," she shook her head and angrily wiped at the tears, "I want my family back but you don't seem to understand how hard all of this is for me and-"

"Rachel-"

"And I don't know if I can every truly forgive you and that hurts more than anything." She wiped away the tears and stood up, "good luck with your interview."

* * *

><p>"Hello?" Rachel answered her phone without even bothering to check to see who was calling first.<p>

"Guess what?"

"Now is not a good time, Noah." Their conversation from this morning was still fresh in her mind and she felt like such an idiot for just letting it out like that.

Puck sighed, "I wanna prove that you can trust me again, Rachel."

"It's just-"

"I got the job, two jobs actually," Puck interrupted.

"That's great, but it's not really the best time for a phone call. There's a lot going on right now and I'm afraid I won't be able to focus my attention on a phone conversation." Rachel sighed and trapped her phone between her ear and her shoulder so she had both hands available, "Brody Josiah, you need to stop fidgeting."

Puck's anger for Rachel's lack of enthusiasm quickly dissipated at the mention of his son, "What's wrong?"

"Just a small fever, he hates taking medicine, even if it does taste like bubblegum."

"A fever? You said he was coughing earlier, are you sure he's ok?"

"I think I'd know how to take care of my son, Noah."

"I'm just worried," he bit out. "I'm his father, I have a right to worry."

"Can I call you back later?"

"How late is later? A few hours? A day? A week?"

Rachel rolled her eyes, "I don't know, Puck. Maybe it'll be twenty two months."

Puck recoiled, her words through the phone felt like a slap in the face. He could hear the hitch in her breathing upon realizing what she'd just said. He knew her, he knew she'd take it back if she could. But she couldn't. "Real fucking mature, Berry."

"Noah…"

"Which is it, Berry? Puck or Noah?"

Rachel sat the children's Tylenol down after finally getting Brody to take the dose, and pulled the phone from between her shoulder and cheek and held it tightly to her ear with her hand. She did not want Brody hearing any of this. "I don't know, you tell me. Sometimes I see Puck and sometimes I see Noah. So which is it?"

Santana came home and could see the tension on Rachel's face, she caught the brunette's urgent glance at her son and she quickly stepped into action.

"Hey there Brody Boy!"

Brody grinned tiredly, "Aunty San, I don't feel good." He held his arms up to be picked.

Santana lifted Brody up, "you're almost too big, buddy. Come on, I bet a bath will help."

Rachel settled into the corner of the sofa in the den, trying to keep up with Puck's angry ranting. "…and how the fuck-"

"In case you don't remember, cursing is not allowed around Brody," she interrupted. "And honestly, why are you making me out to be the bad guy? I'm trying to protect my son!"

"From what? I'm his father!"

"A father who let him down!" Rachel bit out. "You let us all down, Noah."

"I know, ok? But how many times do we have to have this conversation? We can't overcome this shit fest if you don't give me a chance. Please, Rach." She started crying, he knew she was trying to muffle it, but he could still hear it, "ah shit, don't cry."

"Well then don't make me cry!"

"Can I just…come over?" He'd expected to be shot down immediately but her lack of response gave him some hope.

"Can you bring over some cookies 'n cream ice-cream? It's Brody's favorite."

"Anything for my family, Rach."

A few minutes after she hung up with Puck, Rachel looked up to see Santana plop down on the other side of the couch, "baby daddy?"

Rachel nodded, "he's on his way over."

"I'm sorry, what?" Shocked, blindsided, caught off guard, as far as Santana was concerned, she was all three and more. "Puck? Is on his way over?" Again, Rachel nodded. "Well shit, Berry, get yourself together!"

"Aunty San, you said a bad word." Brody climbed up onto the couch and cuddled into his mother's side. He looked up at his mama, "does that mean Aunty San has to do the dishes?"

Santana smirked, "kiddo, we've got a dishwasher for that."

"Well, we'll just figure out some kind of punishment, won't we, Baby?" Rachel ran her hand through Brody's hair and stopped on his forehead to check for a fever.

Brody nodded, "because it's bad to say bad words." He settled his head back on his mother's side, "can I have some ice-cream? It makes my scratchy throat feel better."

"In a bit. Why don't you pick out a movie for us to watch?"

They had just settled into the couch to watch Toy Story when Puck knocked on the front door. When Rachel let him in, he could tell Puck's eyes were trying not to seek his son out in the apartment. He instead chose to follow her into the kitchen, his eyes took in the dozens of pictures attached to the refrigerator. Most were of Brody through the past four years. There was one of Brody with his mom and little sister. There was another of Brody sitting in Artie's lap. There was one with Brody and Shelby at some park. Basically, there was a picture of Brody with every person who held some kind of importance in the four year old's life.

There was one that stood out to Puck, though. A picture of Brody in his mom's arms, with Tina and two guys he'd never met. A mixture of guilt and jealousy swam through his stomach, who were these guys? And why did the one guy have his arm around Rachel?

"Mama! We're waiting for you!" Brody stopped when he saw the guy standing in the middle of the kitchen.

Puck cleared his throat, trying to find his voice. He couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes away from his son. "Hey Brody."

"Noah," Rachel warned, trying to catch his gaze. She wanted this to happen on her terms, she wasn't sure if she or Brody could handle the spur of the moment meeting.

Brody found his way over to his mother's side and wrapped his arms around her leg, "Hi."

"You probably don't remember me…it's been a while." Puck found himself leaning down so he was at eye-level with Brody.

"You're my daddy," he stated in a matter of fact tone that he'd no doubt picked up from his mother.

"You…you remember me?" Puck choked out.

"No. But I saw pictures." He looked up at his mother ashamed, "I was playing hide and seek with aunty Santana and I was hiding in your closet. I saw lots and lots of pictures. Don't be mad, mama," he whispered the last part.

Rachel loosened her son's grip around her leg so she could meet him at eye level, "I'm not mad, sweetie. But how did you know that it was your daddy in those pictures?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Cuz that's what family pictures look like, a baby, a mommy and a daddy."

* * *

><p><em>I hope everybody still likes this story! I got significantly less reviews for chapter two than I did for chapter one. But I want to thank everybody who has taken the time to review, it's really what keeps me writing, I know, you've all heard the plea for reviews before. It's the truth, though. :) I had trouble writing this chapter, should Puck see Brody yet or not yet? But this chapter kind of just wrote itself, lol. So please review and just remember, Brody is only four. More will be explained in the next chapter. ;)<em>


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you so much to everybody who has reviewed, they keep me motivated! I'm glad everybody is liking the story and I hope this chapter lives up to everybody's expectations. This chapter is really going to try to move things along. There's a lot of drama coming up. ;) I do apologize that the chapter is a bit short. _

Look What You've Done

Chapter Four

Puck slid into the empty booth and nodded a hello to both Quinn and Santana across the table, "ladies. Nice to see you again, Satan. Fabray, long time no see." In typical Puck fashion, without asking for permission he reached over and grabbed a slice of pizza. "You don't know how much I missed pizza," he said between chews.

"Told you he's still disgusting." Santana muttered.

Quinn got straight to the point, "so what's your plan?"

"My plan for what?"

"Showing all of us that you deserve another chance, you can't just wing it, you know."

Puck rolled his eyes, "gee thanks for the advice."

"Don't act like an ass, Puck." Quinn pushed her glass of water back and crossed her hands, "as Kurt would say, we're all team Puckleberry but to be honest, I'm a little hesitant for a reunion-"

"—like they'll be one anytime soon," Puck bit out. The shared look between Quinn and Santana didn't go unnoticed by him. "What the fuck was that?" Santana rolled her eyes, "don't roll your eyes at me, Lopez."

"Ok, let me break it down for you, Puckerman. You messed up and you know you messed up but for some reason you have this thought that given enough time you can woo your way back into Berry's good graces and that's where you're sorely mistaken."

"I just said I wasn't expecting a reunion anytime soon."

"Yes but we need you to believe it."

"You kinda fucked up," Santana leaned back and crossed her arms, "like majorly."

"No shit."

"Did you know for the first year Rachel cried herself to sleep almost every night? Or how about when we moved up here she packed away a box of your belongings and brought them with her? Whenever she's feeling really low about how to be both a mother and a father to her son she goes through the box and tries to find something positive that reminds her of you that she can try and pass on to Brody. She won't talk about it, though. She's Rachel Berry, a girl who refuses to let heartbreak and hardships bring her down and-"

"Do you have a point or are you just trying to make me feel like shit?"

"We're trying to make you understand," Quinn clarified. "We don't think you understand how badly you hurt Rachel and how much it still hurts her to even see your face."

"I get it, ok? I fucked up. I'm a screw up just like my own dad!" Puck crossed his own arms, "Artie already had the same conversation with me today."

"We're not saying you're like your dad," Quinn assured.

"But we're still saying you fucked up," Santana added.

"You guys don't even understand, I didn't even deal any drugs!" Puck defended. "The whole thing was one major shit-fest!"

"Let me set you straight, Puck. You were in a known dealer's house, while drugs were being processed with the intent to sell and in the state of Ohio-"

"Oh trust me, I now understand Ohio's laws on drug possession quite well."

"Then stop denying it," Santana argued. "Were you or were you not planning on selling drugs?"

"I don't know, ok?" Puck admitted. "Everything was so fucked up, Rach and I were barely talking, Brody was constantly getting sick and with both of our incomes combined we weren't even close to making ends meet. I just thought maybe one deal would be enough and then that'd be it. I'd never do it again."

Santana scoffed, "famous last words. You can't just come and go in the business of dealing as you please. You know, maybe it's a good thing you were caught, the consequences could have been a lot worse. The other dealer that had managed to elude cops as you were being tackled to the ground by S.W.A.T members, do you know what happened to him?" Puck shook his head, "he was killed a few weeks later in a deal gone bad. Think about it Puckerman, that could have been you. Instead of Brody missing out on seeing his father for two years, he could have missed out on a lifetime of memories. So I suggest you stand your ground but give Berry her space."

"That doesn't even make any sense."

Quinn rolled her eyes, "of course it does." She continued once she had Puck's attention. "You stand your ground by proving to Rachel you are here to stay, work hard, keep both of your jobs and save money all the while showing Rachel that you are there for her and Brody and most importantly," she narrowed her gaze, "don't push the romance."

"Just maybe the sex," Santana added. Quinn elbowed her in the ribs, "ow! What? We both know Rach needs laid in the worst way. She's turning back into Crazy Rachel Berry from sophomore year."

Puck groaned, "can we not talk about sex?"

"Aw has little Puck not gotten a chance to come out and play?" Santana joked. She gasped at the look that washed over Puck's face. "Oh my god!" she leaned forward, "you've been out of prison for a few weeks and you haven't hooked up with some random slut yet?"

"I told you two, I want Rachel and only Rachel." He sighed, "and if there's anything I know about my girl, it's she is very serious when it comes to monogamy."

Santana snorted, "I'm sorry, did you just say monogamy?"

Puck rolled his eyes, "fuck off."

"How are your jobs coming along, anyways?" Quinn tried to change the subject, "Rach said one was with the same company that Artie works for?"

"Yeah. It's music production for video games," he shrugged, "kinda cool I guess. I get to jam on my guitar a lot."

Quinn nodded, mentally taking notes, "and the other job?"

"I help out at a club."

"Hmm," Santana crossed her arms, "which club? And what do you do?"

"Not telling," Puck promptly replied.

"Whatever, I've got my sources."

* * *

><p>"There you are, I…" Tina trailed off when she saw Rachel hurriedly wipe away the tears. She slipped into the restroom and turned the lock on the door. "What's wrong?"<p>

Rachel shook her head, "just a little disagreement."

"With who?" for the past week, Tina had found herself being both a shoulder to cry on and a listening ear. "Was it Puck again?" Ok, so she was definitely rooting for a long awaited reunion between Puck and Rachel just like everybody else, but in her opinion, that man had a long way to go to prove himself.

"His mom." Rachel threw her phone back in her purse and stood up to face the mirror.

"Maybe you should tell Puck to ask his mother to take a step back."

"I can't even bring myself to actually make the effort to talk to Noah," she tried to blink away the tears, "am I being selfish?"

"Absolutely not. You're protecting you and your son, Puck can't just expect you guys to go back to how it was before."

"I don't want it to go back to how it was before," Rachel whispered. She hurried to explain with the confused look that flashed across Tina's face, "our relationship had been strained for quite some time before he was even arrested. We grew up too fast and we had to compromise our own dreams for the dreams of our son. I don't regret having Brody and I never will, but having a child so young really put a strain on the both of us, emotionally, physically and financially."

"So you want the relationship you had before you had Brody?"

"I want our relationship to have a foundation, we never had that before." She ran her hands through her hair, "and how can there be a foundation if I can't even trust him? He tried selling drugs, Tina! Drugs! We're not talking stealing an ATM, underage drinking or egging Mr. Figgins' car, we're talking drugs and for the life of me I don't understand why I'm the only one that sees how messed up that is!"

Tina shook her head, "we all see it, sweetie. I just think, that no matter the situation, all of us will be connected because of glee club so no matter what, we try to be there for everyone." She paused, "even when they do wrong…"

"Well apparently Artie, Santana and Quinn have already made up their minds to forgive Noah."

"I wouldn't necessarily say that." Tina took Rachel's hand, "come on, we've got a dance class to attend and you know Mike hates it when we're late."

Rachel giggled, "he just hates when you're late."

"Whatever." Her smile faltered as she studied her friend, "this probably isn't the best time to bring this up, but I don't want you to be caught off guard, Mike says Matt's been asking about you and Brody."

Rachel gave herself one last look over in the mirror, assessing her face and rubbing away the tear stains. "Let's just go dance."

Mike must have had some of his own frustrations to get out because he was working the class harder than usual. The song ended and he wiped the dripping sweat from his face with his forearm, "ok, everybody take five!" He caught the bottle of water Matt tossed him and took a gulp. "Little distracted, Rach?" He watched as his girlfriend's best friend leaned against the wall and slid down to the ground.

Tina sent her boyfriend a look, "really Mike?"

"I'm fine, Michael. Thank you for asking." Rachel busied herself by adjusting her ponytail.

Matt finished off his bottle of water and tossed it in the recycling bin, "seriously, if you're having some problems with that guy, Mike and I will totally show him what's up."

Rachel smiled and patted Matt's arm thoughtfully, "that's sweet of you, it really is. But unfortunately for you guys, Noah could probably show the both of you 'what's up' as you so interestingly put it."

"Nah, nobody can surpass my ninja skills!"

"No guys, Puck really could seriously hurt both of you guys. Half of the stuff he did in high school," Tina shook her head, "still surprises me a little. To be honest, some of his targets deserved it, like Jacob Ben-Israel."

Rachel shuddered, "let's not talk about Jacob. I just recently had to have his number blocked, _again. _He keeps changing it. I don't know who even gave him my number in the first place."

They finished the class and after Mike had dismissed everybody he and Tina left quickly, having a dinner they had to attend. Matt lingered with Rachel while she gathered her things. He took her bag for her and they left the gym together.

"So you think anything will come of your ex being back?"

She knew the question was coming, and honestly she'd rather it be sooner than later. She liked Matt, she really did. He was a nice guy who was just finishing up his master's in English while still managing to work full time as a waiter and teach dance at a youth center. Not to mention he was great with Brody. They'd been on a few dates, all but one of them in groups; but there just wasn't a romantic connection with him and she wasn't going to lie to him.

"You're a great guy, Matt…"

"But not the kinda guy you're looking for." Rachel nodded and Matt shrugged, "it's cool, kind of expected it. To be honest, I noticed the lack of spark, too. I mean, don't get me wrong, you're hot, like really hot but if there's not a connection then we shouldn't waste our time, right?"

Rachel smiled and looked up at him, "you're going to make some girl very lucky one day, Matt." She looped her arm through his and the two crossed the street, "and speaking of girls, do you remember my friend Santana?"

* * *

><p>Rachel put her hands on her hips and eyed her son, "Brody Josiah Puckerman, is there a reason you're running around in your underwear and a cape?" She pointed to the floor, "get off the couch, and don't jump off."<p>

Brody's shoulders fell, and he climbed down from the couch, "I'm sorry, mama."

"You know the rules, baby. No jumping on the couch."

"I know," he stuck his lip out, "am I in trouble?"

She sighed, "You can't run around the house, it's dangerous. Do you remember the last time you went running through the house?" Brody nodded sheepishly. "And you're not allowed to jump on anything, you know that, Brody. Not to mention, you can't run around nearly naked."

Inwardly, Rachel cringed, she hated reprimanding her son, it was still hard to find the comfortable balance between being the good cop and the bad cop. Brody seemed to have a knack for finding himself in dangerous situations; and it was during those times that Rachel questioned her ability as a mother the most.

Santana rolled her eyes as she entered the living room with her laptop tucked under her arm, "oh come on Rach, he has his underwear on."

"Which is still completely inappropriate!" Rachel argued. "My son will not run around his home in nothing but underwear."

"No, but Puck's son would."

"You mean my daddy?" Brody interjected.

Rachel sent her friend a death glare before easing up on her disapproving look and answering her son, "Yes baby, remember how some people call him Puck?"

"Yep! Are we going to see him again? He said maybe one day he could take me to the park and teach me how to skateboard!"

"We'll see." She removed the cape from around Brody's neck, "go put some clothes and shoes on; and not your water shoes, either. I know they're your favorite but they're not practical for walking around the city."

"I don't know what the big word means, Mama." Brody looked up at his mother, his eyes wide, "can I put my light up shoes on?"

"Yes you can."

"Where are we going?"

"I just have a few errands I have to run and you're going to come with me."

Rachel waited until she knew Brody was out of earshot to look back over at Santana, "I would appreciate if you didn't bring Noah up into conversation with Brody around." She sighed, "I know you've basically forgiven him and-"

"Whoa Rach," Santana put her hand up, "I get that maybe I've been bit tough on you, but believe me when I say Puck is not completely back on my good side yet."

"But you, Quinn and Artie have basically been telling me to get over myself!"

Santana shook her head, "and I can speak for all three of us when I say that was most definitely not our intentions. You're one of my best friends, and Brody is hands down my favorite kid ever, and I just don't want to see that opportunity for you two to be happy to slip away."

"I don't know if our happiness is with Noah," Rachel whispered. "I can't even trust him."

"Then make him build that trust."

* * *

><p><em>Don't hate me for no Puckleberry interaction! There will most definitely be some next chapter! Reviews are lovely! :)<em>


	5. Chapter 5

Look What You've Done

Chapter Five

"Hey B?"

Santana knocked on the bedroom door; it was well past the time Rachel normally got out of bed on a Sunday morning. Of course, Brody did spend the night at Shelby's so she could totally understand Rachel's reasoning for wanting to sleep in a bit. Even then, though, Rachel never slept in past nine o'clock.

She shrugged her shoulders and started to turn around when she heard a muffled noise that sounded way too much like a sob. She knocked again, "Ok, I'm totally letting myself in! I hope you're not naked and cuddled up against some random guy you picked up and snuck in last night without inviting me to join!"

She turned the knob on the door and pushed it open ever so slightly. The sight before her made her stomach turn. Rachel was curled in the middle of her bed and sobbing quietly. "What happened?" She let herself in all the way and climbed into bed next to Rachel, "come on, B. Tell me what happened so I know who to throw some acid at."

Something between a sob and a laugh escaped Rachel's lips, "I thought your ways of Lima Heights Adjacent were behind you?"

"Not when it comes to my people."

"Well I'd prefer for you not to throw acid in Noah's beautiful face," she pulled her comforter tighter around her and tried to steady her breath. "No matter how much I currently loathe seeing it."

"Did he fuck up already?" Santana scowled, "dumbass. What'd he do?"

"You guys just don't understand," Rachel sobbed. "It's like high school all over again, Rachel Berry is always the one that messes up, let's have her pick up the pieces and turn around and comfort the other person!"

"That's not-"

"It most certainly is! All I ever hear from you guys is 'when did you last talk to Noah?' or 'when are you going to talk to Noah?' or 'what did you two talk about?' Do you know how bad I feel for standing my ground and not letting Brody see his father every day?"

"Rach-"

"I just need someone to tell me that I'm doing that right thing!"

"Oh, sweetie you are!" She pulled Rachel into her embrace, "you're seriously the best mom ever! And I know none of us have ever meant to imply otherwise. You're doing more than I would, you know me, when I'm scorned Snixx comes out and it's not very pretty."

Rachel sniffled, and rubbed her face with the sleeve of her hoody, "I know people think I'm probably being too harsh, but I just can't flip a switch."

"I know, Rach." Santana sighed and settled in next to Rachel, she laid her head on her friend's shoulder, "you know I hardly ever apologize, but I really am sorry if you felt pressured by any of us to rush back into Puck's arms and live happily ever after."

"The sad thing is, that's all I want, is to live happily ever after."

"Don't we all? But what's life without roadblocks? Shit would get boring real quick."

Rachel's phone started ringing and she groaned, "I really hope that's not my mother telling me Brody had a bad night."

Rachel wasn't sure what had caused them, although she had a few guesses, but Brody wasn't sleeping well at night. Sometimes he would crawl into her bed and sometimes he would just cry out for her until she came to his room. This had been Rachel's biggest concern, was how Puck being back in their lives would affect Brody. She was honestly surprised when Brody didn't put up a fight last night when she'd dropped him off at her mother's; some days he refused to let her leave his sight.

She checked the caller I.D. and sighed.

Santana lifted her head off of Rachel's shoulder and took a look, "don't answer it if you don't want to."

But Rachel cleared her throat and answered, "hello?"

"Did I wake you?"

"No."

"Cool. So I know I'm supposed to be giving you space and all but I just wanted to let you know I told my mom to back the fuck off."

"I'm sorry?"

"She called me earlier, kinda bitching me out and then she let it slip she kinda bitched you out not too long ago and I told her to back off."

"Oh, well I do appreciate the gesture. She was definitely pouring on the heavy Jewish guilt."

Puck scoffed, "it's what she does best. She's been laying it on thick since I was released."

"Well you kind of deserve it," Rachel said in all honesty.

"Yeah, I know," Puck bit back on impulse. He sighed, "Sorry."

"It's fine."

"Not really, I'm trying to do right, Rachel."

"I know," she whispered.

Puck cleared his throat, "So yeah, anyways, what are you and Brody doing this afternoon?"

Rachel shifted uncomfortably, she'd managed to make up excuses the last few times Puck had asked if he could see Brody. "I uh…we don't really have a plan for today. Brody's spent the night at my mother's, I'm heading over there for breakfast shortly."

"But after that?" Puck wasn't quite ready to face Rachel's mother (who he'd only meant once in passing back in high school when Rachel first found out who her mother was).

"I suppose we could arrange to do something."

"Awesome!" Rachel could hear the grin in his voice, "how about the park? The one not far from your apartment that we went to the last time I saw you guys?"

* * *

><p>"Morning, mama!" Brody bounced in his chair, his mouthful of waffles.<p>

Rachel ran her hand through Brody's hair and kissed his forehead, "good morning, Brody Bear." She settled into the seat next to him, "were you good for nana?" He nodded his head and went back to eating. Rachel looked across the table at her mother for confirmation.

Shelby gave her daughter a reassuring smile but mouthed 'later'.

Ever since Puck had come back in Rachel and Brody's life, she'd sensed the slight change in her daughter's demeanor and behavior. The internal fight was taking a toll on Rachel's ability to stay focused. Maybe to the casual observer or someone in passing, Rachel looked fine, but not enough make-up could hide the dark circles under Rachel's eyes from her mother. But she'd also noticed the change in her grandson, he was arguing more, and throwing temper tantrums more often; an obvious sign of a young child confused of what exactly was going on around him and choosing to act out in the only way he knew how.

"So what are your plans today?" Shelby asked casually.

"Nothing set in stone, maybe a few errands and a possible haircut for Brody." She didn't want to mention the plans to meet up at the park with Puck.

Out of everybody, Shelby had been the one who was most resistant when Rachel mentioned Puck had been released and was now in New York City. Being the one who had picked up the pieces when Puck was sent to prison, the last thing she wanted was to see her daughter and grandson heartbroken once again. They'd had one argument about it, immediately after Puck had moved to New York, and it was when she saw Rachel break down with the struggle of trying to do right by her son, that she'd agreed to back off. After all, if it weren't for second chances, Shelby wouldn't have her own child in her life. Still, though, she was leery of what could come from Puck's reappearance.

"Nooo!" Brody shook his head, "no haircut, I like to shake my hair like this." He repeated the action, "and make crazy hairdos in the bath!"

"Well maybe just a trim, I can hardly see those gorgeous eyes of yours." Rachel tried to push Brody's hair from his eyes but he shook his head and she sighed, but still slightly amused; he was just as serious about his hair as his father was when he was younger. "Ok, ok."

A silence fell over the three until Shelby cleared her throat and spoke again, "so how was your night?"

Rachel shrugged, drizzling more syrup over her waffles, "uneventful."

Shelby sat her fork down and cleared her throat, gaining her daughter's complete attention, "I spoke to my agent last night, she'd called to inform me of some Broadway auditions coming up. I told her the time wasn't right for me, as you know I'm hoping to move forward in my career in directing…so I mentioned you."

"Me?" Rachel's fork fell from her hand and clinked to her dish, falling in the syrup. "Why?"

"Sweetie, it's been a while since you've done something besides workshops and readings. For the first year you guys moved to New York, you were performing in every little part you could get your hands on. You were cast as Maria in West Side Story on Broadway and turned it down."

"Because Brody was sick and-"

"I know; you did something I was never able to do and put your baby before your career. But he's fine now," Shelby urged. "And you have a great support system here in New York."

Rachel held tightly on to Brody's hand as they walked through the park, she was loaded down with a bag of things Brody thought was a necessity to bring along. She'd cut him off at letting him ride his bike the short distance; he was still using training wheels. The last time he'd brought his bike along, they'd turned away for less than a minute to get some Italian Ice and someone had taken it. Not to mention, she knew she'd end up wheeling it at her side back to their apartment because he would claim he was too tired to ride it back.

"Do you think maybe he can teach me how to skateboard?" Brody hoped out loud.

"We'll see," Rachel sighed inwardly, really hoping that Puck wasn't already making empty promises. Of course, Rachel wasn't even that excited about the whole skateboard thing. Really, did Puck not learn enough when he was a teenager how dangerous those things were? She specifically remembered more than one occasion where she'd instructed him to hold an ice-pack to his bruised body after he'd tried something stupid with his skateboard.

Maybe she could convince the both of them to settle on teaching Brody how to ride his bike without training wheels. Artie had tried, at the beginning of the summer, but there was only so much instructing he could do; not to mention he barely had any memories of riding a bike.

She felt the tug on her hand and brought herself back to the present, "look mama, there he is! And he has a doggy!" He looked up at his mom, eyes wide with surprise, "do you think it's for me?"

_I hope not. _Rachel wanted to say. Yes, she was an animal lover, and her and Puck had even talked about getting a pet before everything happened. But bottom line, pets were expensive to properly take care of and nurture. When they got closer, Rachel immediately recognized the breed, an Australian Cattle dog; it's exactly what Puck's always wanted.

"Hey guys!" Puck grinned, approaching them with the puppy at his side.

"You got a doggy!" Brody exclaimed.

"Sure did." Puck scooped the dog up and leaned down so he was at Brody's level, "what do you say you help me name him?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm not very good at naming things." He winked, "well besides you."

Naming Brody had been quite the fight and it was a few hours after Brody's birth that the young parents had finally compromised on the perfect name. Puck thought Brody Drake was the perfect name for his son but Rachel wanted a solid Jewish name; Josiah Gabriel. In the end, they'd both happily settled on Brody Josiah.

The puppy immediately took to Brody, licking his face and nearly tackling him to the ground. Brody giggled, "oreo!"

"Oreo?"

Brody nodded, "he looks like he jumped into a bunch of oreos!"

Puck smirked, "ok then." He looked up at Rachel, for the first time, catching her reaction to the newly named pup named Oreo. "What do you think, do you approve?"

She raised a brow, "of the dog or of the name?"

"Both."

"Well, the name doesn't really surprise me one bit, last year for his birthday, Sam got him a goldfish and he named it Mr. Cheddar Cheese." Puck let out a genuine laugh, something that startled Rachel and led to her smiling softly. "And as for the dog, I can't really say I'm surprised about that, either. I just hope-"

"Yes," Puck interrupted her, grinning, "I adopted him from a shelter."

Rachel and Puck sat on the bench, a safe distance between one another and watched Brody play with the newly named pup, Oreo. Every few minutes, Puck let out a sigh, but Rachel wasn't budging, if he had something to say, he could say it; she wasn't going to prompt him.

"I think we need to figure out some kind of schedule," Puck all of a sudden said.

Rachel narrowed her eyes at him, "excuse me? What exactly are you implying by a schedule?"

"Not like a custody thing, but like, a set time when I know I can visit or something." Puck groaned when the glare she was giving him didn't let up. "I don't wanna have to fight you on this, Rachel. I just wanna-"

She scoffed, "you wouldn't stand a chance, anyways."

"Rachel, I really wanna stay in Brody's life. I'm not asking for custody or visitation, you're his mom and I would never, ever even think about trying to take him away from you. I just wanna try and make a certain time where I know I can see him. Like you know, dinner or something on Tuesday nights, or whatever works best for you guys. I don't wanna fuck with Brody's routine, I just wanna see him." He took a breath, "and you," he quickly added.

If Rachel was moved or unnerved by Puck's words, she didn't show it. She sat up straighter, "I'm sure we could come up with something. I'd have to chart it out and see what works best for Brody."

Puck grinned, "of course, Brody is my number one concern."

Rachel nodded, "well I'll let you know what I figure out."

"Well until then, maybe we can get dinner or something on Friday night? You, me and Brody? I just got my first real paycheck and I'd like to celebrate."

"You mean besides buying a dog?" Rachel nervously ran her fingers through the ends of her hair, "Brody and I actually have plans already."

"Oh."

She chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully, "I'm doing an off Broadway show with my mother and quite a few other Broadway vets, it's for charity and…"

"It's cool, you don't have to explain. I know I still have a lot to prove, I get that."

"I was going to say I could secure you a ticket, if you'd like?"


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for all the reviews! Sorry for the long delay, I hope there are people still out there interested in reading this story. By the way, I think I'm officially done watching Glee. I just can't stand it anymore. No worries, though, I'm still committed to my stories. :) Read and Review! Pretty pretty please.

Look What You've Done

Chapter Six

Ever since Rachel had invited Puck to the show, she'd been even more on edge over the past couple of days. This feeling that had settled in the pit of her stomach, was it butterflies? Was she nervous? Nervous for herself or nervous for Puck? She'd really hit her wit's end these past few days. Besides things with Puck, Brody still wasn't sleeping regularly which resulted in him climbing into her bed at all hours of the night.

She couldn't figure out what was going on with her son, his behavior was becoming a little erratic and he was being extremely clingy. He hardly wanted anything to do with Puck, nor did he want anything to do with his nana Shelby or his 'aunts' and 'uncles'. The only person he wanted was his mama, and if Rachel was honest with herself, she was concerned a little bit.

She released a heavy sigh and reached for another one of Brody's shirts. She had probably a good half hour before he woke up from his nap. That's another thing, she couldn't remember that last time he took naps on a regular basis, but ever since he had started waking up at all hours of the night, it had become a normal thing for him to take naps after lunch.

"Calm your tits, Berry."

Rachel rolled her eyes but didn't bother to look up from the basket of laundry she was folding. "Couldn't come up with a more appropriate phrase, Santana?"

Santana shrugged and pushed herself off the door jam, "I could have, but it wouldn't have been as much fun." She plopped down on Rachel's bed, kicked her flip flops off and curled her feet beneath her. "You've been freaking out over the past few days."

"What makes you think that?"

"Oh come on, do you realize you accidently put the milk in the cabinet this morning and the cereal in the refrigerator?" She laughed at the look on Rachel's face, "yeah, if it weren't for Brody letting me know, we'd have some sour milk by the time one of us noticed."

"What am I doing, Santana?"

"Folding laundry." She grinned and nudged Rachel's shoulder, "I'm kidding, B. You're second guessing yourself, isn't that in the official, unofficial parenting handbook or something?"

"I feel like I've lured Noah into some trap, everybody is going to be there tomorrow night. They'll all be watching us, watching _him. _Especially my mother." She shook her head, "Jesse will be there performing, too."

Santana laughed, "good job, Rach." She smiled sympathetically, "it could be worse; Finn could be there."

Rachel rolled her eyes, "that was years ago, Santana. That triangle has long since dissolved. In fact, it never was a triangle; it was always Noah for me." The look on Santana's face unnerved her, "What? What was that look for? And don't say what look because you know exactly what I'm talking about. You quirked your head to the side, raised one brow and frowned. Something is up, Santana Lopez and I don't like it."

"I just heard some things through the grapevine."

"What?"

"Well you know, the grapevine from here to Lima is pretty damn long so I wouldn't be surprised if some things were twisted and turned and…"

"Santana!"

"Ok, ok," Santana held her hands up in defense and sighed. "So rumor has it that Finn has talked about putting aside his co-ownership of the Hummel-Hudson auto shop and move up to New York."

Rachel scoffed, "that's the most preposterous thing I've ever heard, like Finn would ever want New York."

"He doesn't want New York, Rach, he wants you."

"Excuse me?"

Santana stood up and moved to check her reflection in the mirror, "like I said, you know how rumors are." She ran her fingers through her hair and glanced at Rachel, "Hudson would be an idiot to do something as stupid as to come up here to New York. I mean, how the hell does he expect to get around? He could hardly navigate his way through McKinley, how the hell does he think he'll manage the subway system?" She rolled her eyes, "and not to mention the complete obvious, you're not even interested in him. You're fucking over the moon, jump for the stars, sacrifice your future Broadway career in love with Puckerman."

"That's one way to put it," Rachel said slowly, still in slight disbelief. "I don't even, I'm honestly at a loss for words. What the hell is his problem?"

"Exactly, Chica! Like, nobody was even a Finchel fan when that shit was going down." Santana retook her position next to Rachel, "but I just thought I'd give you a heads up."

"Santana, I had to practically twist your arm for you to spill."

She waved off Rachel's words, "minor details."

Rachel learned in high school to not dwell on any of Finn Hudson's actions or words. After one too many tries with Finn Hudson, she'd found what it really meant to be in a relationship and love someone with a certain then mohawked, singing, guitar playing, football player. Finn Hudson could do whatever the hell he pleased, but he'd never have her. Her thoughts had jumped subjects and her forehead wrinkled in worry, "what's with the face? Don't tell me you're freaking out about Finnessa."

"Oh no, not in the least bit," Rachel assured. "I'm really starting to doubt my actions when it comes to what's best for Brody. I find myself constantly wondering if my actions have been justified and right. No matter what I say or do, things have become unsettled and it's taking a toll on Brody." She swallowed her emotions, "he doesn't know what's going on anymore and I don't if I'm the only person he trusts now but he cries when I leave him and I'm afraid I've messed up somehow."

* * *

><p>"Mommy," Brody whined, "do I have to dress up in nice clothes? I hate them. I just wanna wear my play clothes."<p>

"Hate isn't a very nice word, Brody." Rachel said with her back to her son as she rummaged through his closet. She grabbed the long sleeve green and blue plaid button up and a white t-shirt. She stopped when another shirt caught her eye and pulled it from the hanger. "Here, baby." She turned around, "you can wear your gray batman t-shirt underneath it."

Brody grinned, "ok!" With little difficulty, he managed to pull the shirt over his head and slipped his arms through. His pout wasn't as obvious when he took the dress shirt from his mom. "Help me with the buttons, Mama? Please?"

"Of course." She leaned down so she was at his level and smoothed down the collar before buttoning the shirt up. She smiled, "tuck the shirt into your khakis and put your brown shoes on."

"My brown ones?" He whined again, "I wanna wear my green chucks, they'll match my shirt!"

Rachel raised a brow, slightly amused by her son's argument. "Arguing over shoes? You've been hanging around Mike and Matt too long."

"Are they gonna be there?"

"Absolutely." She unlatched the velcro on one of the shoes and sat down next to him. "Sam and Quinn are going to be there, too. So are Tina, Kurt, Blaine, Artie and Santana."

"And my daddy?"

Rachel wanted to choose her words carefully, she'd made sure Puck knew where to pick his ticket up and had written down clear directions to the theater, but she couldn't physically make him show up; that was his own doing. "He might be, I guess we'll have to wait and see."

Brody nodded, "are you going to be far away?"

"What do you mean, sweetie?"

"You are gonna be on stage." He shook his head, "I'm not allowed on the stage. I don't want you to go far."

Rachel sighed and took a seat on Brody's unmade bed, she patted the spot next to her, "come here." Brody climbed up and settled next to his mother, "are you worried about something? I'm your mommy, you can tell me anything."

He curled into her and she easily understood his body language, "I don't want you to leave me, mama."

She shook her head, "never in a million years could I leave you." She pulled him into her lap and tilted his chin upward so he was looking at her. "Sometimes you stay the night with nana, or sometimes I take you to daycare but that doesn't mean I'm leaving you. Just because I go to work doesn't mean I'm leaving you, I'll never, ever leave you. You're my whole world."

"Promise?"

"I promise times million times."

Brody grinned and wrapped his little arms around his mother's neck and hugged her tight. "A million times," he repeated.

After showing his ticket, Puck weaved his way through the crowd, looking for familiar faces. Rachel didn't mention to him who all was showing up, but if he had to bet on it, he'd say just about all of her good friends in the city. He spotted Kurt, Blaine, Quinn, Sam, –who was holding tightly on to Brody's hand- Santana, Tina and the two guys from the picture on the refrigerator.

Puck grinned and went straight for Brody, "Hey little man, what's up?"

Brody released his hand from Sam's and looked up at his father, "Hi."

Puck's insides twisted at Brody's hesitance, "How are you?" Brody shrugged his shoulders. "You excited to see your mom's show?"

"I hear her sing all the time. She's got the best voice."

"Couldn't agree more."

"Are those for mommy?" Brody pointed to the bouquet of red roses in Puck's arm.

"Yeah, I mean, all girls like flowers, right?"

Brody nodded, "My mommy loves flowers."

Rachel grinned through the applause as she tried to catch her breath, "thank you, thank you." She pulled the microphone from its stand and walked casually around the small stage. "So I know this is the part where I'm supposed to sing some Broadway classic that any number of people can probably tell you I've been singing in front of a mirror with my hairbrush since I was old enough to stand, but tonight, if it's ok with some of my closest friends," she turned her attention to the front row, "I'd like to do something else.

"In high school, I was in a glee club," she grinned, "a glee club that won nationals my senior year, we had a cover of a song that stuck with us through the years of high school and if they'll join me, I'd love to bring up the members from my old glee club and have them help me with a familiar classic." She waved for them to come up, "we might be a little rusty, it's been almost six years. Care to join me, guys?"

A few of them seemed to know what was going on, but a few others seemed a little lost but nodded nonetheless. Matt and Mike stayed put and settled Brody between them. Rachel grinned as Artie wheeled himself out onto the stage, she'd told him in advance, so he could make it backstage in time to join the rests of them on stage.

"Grab a microphone, guys."

Rachel grabbed a microphone and handed it to Puck, "I want you as male lead."

Puck didn't have time to protest and was left with no choice but to follow Rachel's lead to the center of the stage. He fell in place next to her and closed his eyes to focus on the music, waiting for the cue to start singing.

_Just a small town girl  
>Livin' in a lonely world<br>She took the midnight train goin' anywhere_

His voice trailed off and he looked over at Rachel and returned the smile she was giving him.

_**Just a city boy  
>Born and raised in South Detroit<br>He took the midnight train goin' anywhere...**_

* * *

><p>After signing a handful of autographs and parting ways with her mother, Rachel left through the back door and found her friends-her <em>family<em>, waiting for her.

"Rach, that was amazing!" Quinn beamed, pulling her friend into a tight hug, "I never thought I'd get the chance to be on stage again, let alone, singing that song."

One by one, the former glee club members pulled her into a hug and thanked her. After Tina pulled away from a hug, Rachel caught sight of both Mike and Matt grinning at her. "Oh come here, boys!"

Puck looked away and clenched his jaw; he'd seen the Asian get cozy with Tina but as for the other guy, Matt, he wasn't sure what the deal was with him and Rachel. He felt someone elbow him and looked down in annoyance; of course it was Santana.

"Was that necessary?" He mumbled.

Santana rolled her eyes, "there's no reason to get all grumpy, Puckerman." Puck silently read her face and his former high school flame sent him a knowing wink, "don't worry about them."

"Whatever."

"My turn, mama!" Brody pulled his hand free from Sam's grasp and ran to his mother. The large bouquet of roses nearly outweighed him. "Look! We got you roses!"

Rachel grinned, "I see that!" She leaned down and kissed her son's head and took the roses from him, gushing over them. "They're beautiful, baby." She took a chance and glanced in Puck's direction, and his refusal to make eye contact gave her the answer she needed. She made a mental note to thank him later; he obviously wanted to give the credit to Brody.

Santana cleared her throat, "I'd say we should all go out for drinks but…" She nodded at the little one, "we're all a little bit more responsible these days."

Rachel absolutely refused to let everybody else have to call it an early night just because she had a four year old who was up way past his bedtime. "Don't let Brody and I hinder the plans for the rest of the evening. I insist you guys go continue your night, we will not be offended."

"Brunch tomorrow?" Quinn suggested. With her arm around Sam's waist, she leaned her head against his shoulder. Her eyes swam across the group of friends she considered her family, looking for their agreement.

Artie nodded, "I'm down for that."

Soon, everybody else was nodding their heads and voicing their agreements.

Quinn grinned, "it's settled, then. Sam and I will host," she looked up just long enough to see his silent approval. "Come by around 11:00."

"We won't miss it for the world, will we, Brody?" Rachel looked down at her son, he was rubbing his eyes, a sure sign that sleepiness was setting in.

"Mama, I'm sleepy." Brody tightened his grip on his mother's hand and leaned into her.

"I know, sweetie. It's been a long day for you." She gave her friends an appreciative smile, "I guess that's our cue to go. Thanks again for coming out to see me, guys. You don't know how much it means to me…"

"Of course we do," Sam interrupted. "You're Rachel Berry, being the center of attention means the world to you," he joked.

"Haha, stick to your day job, Evans." Rachel grinned and with a few more hugs, "ok, we really have to go."

Puck knew this was his only opportunity, he hurriedly pulled his hands from his pockets, "uh you mind if I tag along?"

Rachel could feel several sets of eyes on her, she cleared her throat, "no…you're more than welcome to join us."

They'd decided to walk, the fresh late summer evening air was a nice change from the normal humid weather that August brought along. It only took a few blocks before Brody was whining again. Rachel held back a smile; even if Brody hadn't been in the presence of his father for nearly two years, he certainly had his father's personality. That included getting extremely grumpy when tired.

"Carry me, mama."

Puck held his hands out, "wanna lift?"

Brody shook his head, "I want my mama to carry me."

Rachel caught the hurt the flashed over Puck's face and a part of her felt bad. She turned her attention to her four year old, "you know you're almost too big for me to carry."

"But not yet, I'm just four."

She secured her hands under Brody's arms and instructed him to give himself a boost to make it easier. She groaned but held him securely at her side, "just this time, ok?"

Brody nodded and wrapped his arms around Rachel's neck, he kissed her cheek. "I love you, mama."

"Mmm, I love you too."

They walked a little bit longer in complete silence and Puck could tell Brody's weight was becoming too much for Rachel. He cleared his throat and pulled his hands from his pockets, "you sure you don't wanna give your mom's arms a break and get a piggy back ride?"

Still, Brody refused. Another block down and the four year old was sound asleep in his mother's arms. Rachel gratefully passed her son off to his father.

"Just try not to bounce him, I don't want him waking up and freaking out." She took the bouquet of roses that Puck had been carrying. "I just mean, he's been acting really clingy with me lately. And I don't want you to take it personal. He's been shying away from everybody else, too."

Puck shook his head, "it's fine, Rach."

"He's just four, I tried to talk to him about it but I don't think he quite understands it all. I tried asking my father about, he says it's probably just some kind of phase and all the parenting books seem to agree." She smiled and held up the roses, "thank you, by the way."

"What are you talking about? It was all Brody's idea," he joked.

She gave him that Rachel Berry smile, the one he fell in love with so many years ago. "If you say so, Puckerman."

Brody stayed awake during his transition from his clothes to his pajamas and into bed. Hitting the lights to her son's room, Rachel left the door open just a crack and turned around. She smiled up at Puck, "sorry you didn't get a chance to read him a bedtime story."

Puck shrugged, "it's cool." To be honest, he was just happy Rachel invited him in. "Maybe next time."

Rachel nodded, "yeah." She brushed past him and moved into the kitchen, "would you like something to drink?"

"Sure."

Rachel pulled open the fridge and surveyed the options, she'd completely forgotten about going grocery shopping. "Your options are limited, we have water, juice boxes, purple Gatorade, milk or orange juice?" she looked up for an answer.

Puck laughed, "uh…water is fine."

"Two waters is it, then." She handed one to him, "living room?" All Puck could do was nod and follow her into the living room.

* * *

><p>Rachel stirred awake and tensed once she registered the weight of the warm body she was snuggled into. She squeezed her eyes shut and frantically thought back to the events of last night, "oh no," she whispered. Hesitantly she opened her eyes just enough to get confirmation, "oh no," she repeated.<p>

"That's not what you were saying last night." Puck joked, running his hand up and down Rachel's bare back. "Morning."

"You have to leave," Rachel urged.

"What?"

Pulling the sheet with her, Rachel completely removed herself from Puck's grasp. "This was a mistake, you have to leave before Santana sees us." She shook her head, "or even worse, Brody." With the sheet still wrapped tightly around her body, she gathered Puck's clothes that had hurriedly been thrown across her bedroom floor last night, and tossed them to him.

Puck sat in total shock at Rachel's behavior; ok, so he wasn't completely expecting everything to be fucking sunshine and rainbows between the two of them, but he most certainly did not expect to be getting kicked out of her bed first thing in the morning. "What the fuck, Rach?"

She avoided his questioning gaze. "Please don't curse," she whispered.

"Well then tell me why you're kicking me out of your bed?" He angrily slipped back into his boxers and pulled the wrinkled t-shirt over his head. "You can't honestly tell me last night was just a one-time fuck."

"I don't know what last night was but..."

"It was a mistake," Puck interrupted. "Yeah, I heard you the first time!"

Her shame had quickly turned to anger and with some difficulty she managed to march over to her bedroom door. With her hand on the knob she turned back around and glared at Puck, "I don't know what last night was, ok? But I do know it shouldn't have happened! We're not together-"

"But we could be!" Puck urged, stepping closer to Rachel and reaching for her. "It's what I want, Rach and I know it's what you want; to be a family again."

The emotion in Puck's eyes pained Rachel and she shook her head, she was not going to cry. "I can't do this right now with you, Noah." She pulled open her bedroom door, "you need to leave. We're all supposed to go over to Quinn and Sam's for brunch, remember?"

"I was kinda hoping we could all go together?"

Rachel shook her head, unable to make eye contact, "we'll see you there."

"I thought we were getting somewhere." He finished getting dressed and slipped his wallet and phone back into his pocket. "Guess I was wrong, huh?" He stopped in front of her by the door, "Just so you know, you probably think I've been sleeping around since getting released," he shook his head, "I was waiting for you…for us."

Rachel couldn't go back to sleep after she'd kicked Puck out of her bed and out of the apartment. It was still really early, the sun was just peaking over the horizon when she'd given up on trying to go back to sleep and decided to take a shower.

She'd gotten dressed in a pair of dark skinny jeans and a casual t-shirt and made herself a pot of coffee. She'd checked on Brody at least twice, surprised that he didn't wake up once during the middle of the night; staying up later than usual must have worn him out.

She was sitting on the couch, sipping on her mug of coffee with the volume on the television turned down low and watching the news when Santana slipped through the door.

"Fuck, Rach," Santana whispered. "You scared me." Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun and she was carrying her heals. "Totally didn't expect you to be awake this early."

Rachel shrugged and took in her best friend's appearance, "woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep. Looks like you had a good time last night, though."

Santana smirked and tossed her things on the loveseat and plopped down on the couch next to Rachel. Her smirk turned into a giddy grin, "I think I really like him, B."

"That's good." Rachel smiled genuinely, "I'm happy for you, Santana."

"So what about you and Puck?" Santana joked. She saw the blush creep into Rachel's cheeks and gasped, "No way! You totally had sex with Puck?"

"Keep your voice down, Santana!" Rachel cast a quick glance to her son's bedroom door and turned back to her friend, "it was an accident and I'd rather not talk about it." She huffed, uncurled herself from the couch and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Oh no miss thing!" Santana shook her head and met up with Rachel in the kitchen, "you got some explaining to do!"

Rachel was leaning up against the sink, with her back to the entrance to the kitchen, "please, can we just drop it?"

Santana heard the quiver in her friend's voice and didn't need to see her face to face to know she was on the verge of tears. "Ok, fine, for now we'll drop it. I need to take a shower, anyways."

* * *

><p>Puck tried to be as quiet as possible as he let himself into Artie's appointment.<p>

"Someone got some lady lovin' last night."

"Fuck, Abrams." Puck mumbled, "scared the shit out of me."

"No kidding." Artie wheeled himself around the couch and hit the brakes on his chair, "so let me guess, you and Rachel got a little reconnected last night." He smirked, and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, "to be honest, I thought it'd take longer."

"Yeah, well, it was clearly a lapse in Berry's judgment."

"What do you mean?"

"She woke up, freaked out, told me it was a mistake and kicked me out of bed."

"Ouch."

"No kidding." Puck pushed himself up and massaged the tightness in the back of his neck, "I gotta get a shower. Wanna head over to Sam and Quinn's afterwards?"

"That's what I was planning on."

"Cool, see ya in a bit."

* * *

><p>P.S. next chapter might have some flashbacks. ;)<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

_Not my best chapter. But things will be moving along. Likes, lots of things. ;)_

Look What You've Done

Chapter Seven

Putting her earrings in, Rachel walked out of her bedroom and stopped at the sight of her son watching television. "Are you ready, Brody?"

Brody jumped off the couch, he knew he'd been caught watching cartoons instead of getting ready like his mother had told him to do. "I just gotta put my shoes on."

"Well go get them and I'll tie them for you."

"Can I wear my green chucks _today_?" Brody asked, placing his hands on his hips just like he'd seen his mother do often. He grinned when his mother nodded and ran off towards his room.

Rachel turned the television off after Brody left the living room and sat down on the couch to wait for him. After the events that took place last night and early this morning, Rachel wasn't looking forward to brunch with the whole gang at Sam and Quinn's.

Ever since Santana found out, she'd been walking around the apartment with this smug grin on her face and Rachel wasn't so sure she could keep quiet. Putting two and two together, she was sure Artie probably found out when Puck got home.

Puck was mad at her, for which she knew he had every right to be. Honestly, she was a little mad at herself for the way treating him with such animosity and anger. But she was also confused, she hadn't meant for things to happen like they did that night.

_They had both settled on the couch, Rachel curled in one corner and Puck leaning in the other corner. Neither knew what to say, it was the first time they had really been alone since the day he had shown up outside her apartment nearly a month ago. _

"_What was it like?" she suddenly asked. _

_Puck stopped picking at the label wrapped around the bottle of water in his hand and looked up, "what was what like?" _

"_Prison," she whispered. _

_He shrugged; the only person that had really asked him what prison had been like was Artie (well, besides his mom, but she was nosy like that). Even then, with Artie, his answers weren't very descriptive. Puck wasn't every straight forward when it came to his fears, but that place was pure hell and scared the shit out of him. His stint in juvie when he was sixteen was like some kind of luxury vacation complete with room service and on demand movies compared to prison. "Fuckin' sucked." Wishing it was beer, he took another swig of his water, "sorry for dropping the f-bomb."_

"_Your answer, your words." Puck looked up and met her gaze, silently questioning her response. She smiled, "really, how can I judge your language when I've never even been remotely near a prison to judge for myself." _

"_I waited every day," he mumbled, looking back down at his water. "Every day, I had hoped for a phone call, a response to my letters….a visit from you…and Brody." _

_She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Noah…"_

"_I know," he grunted. "Ok? I know I hurt you and I hurt my son. I let you guys down." _

"_I see that you're trying, I really do.."_

"_But?" _

_She shook her head and uncurled her legs from beneath her. "You have to see that I'm trying, too." She sat her water down and scooted a bit closer to Puck. "When I'm around you sometimes I'm still so mad and sometimes all I really want to do is kiss you." _

"_Kiss me, then."_

"_Noah, I..umph…" She was taken aback by his kiss but quickly recovered and found herself slipping her arms around his neck and deepening the kiss, granting his tongue access into her mouth. _

"_Your lips taste as fucking awesome as I remember," Puck muttered when they both pulled back for air. With his forehead against hers, one hand slipped around her neck, massaging the tension away and the other was lingering dangerously close to her waist. _

"_We shouldn't do this," she whispered, sneaking a quick kiss. _

_Nodding, he kissed her, "but you want to."_

"_I do," she kissed him again, most likely against her better judgment, but it just felt so right. She could lie and say it was solely on the fact that she hadn't had sex in a year, but she knew it was more than that; he was more than that. _

After that, the heavy make out session had blurred her senses and next thing she knew, she was leading him to her bedroom and kicking her door shut behind them.

"Look at that smile, you're totally reliving sex with Puckerman. Dirty whore."

Santana's voice brought Rachel completely back to the present. "Can you please just drop it?" She forced a smile when Brody came running back into view. "Already?"

Brody nodded, "I tried to tie my shoes, but it's tricky."

"Come here, baby." Rachel patted the empty spot on the couch next to her and Brody quickly obliged. "Ready for some breakfast?"

"Can I eat bacon when we get there?"

Lucky for Rachel, when they arrived at Sam and Quinn's, the only other people there were Matt, Mike and Tina. She was absolutely dreading being around Puck with so many other people; but then again, she wasn't exactly sure she'd be better off being alone with him, either.

"Ok, spill." Quinn had insisted the guys go chill and play some of their video games while Tina, Santana and Rachel helped her in the kitchen. Ok, so maybe it was really just an excuse for some girl chat, but hey, everybody was happy.

Tina stood over the stove, flipping the pancakes, "yeah, something is a little off between the two of you."

Santana smirked, "Hey, I gots no secrets. But Berry over here, now she's the one you wants to be asking."

Rachel rolled her eyes, "honestly, Santana, you're in law school, don't you think you should really start using proper grammar?"

"Whatevs," Santana moved to put the eggs back in the refrigerator. "I'm just saying, nobody likes their business being spread by other people. So why not tell them yourself?"

"You just want me to tell them because you're absolutely dying to gossip about it and all the potential consequences."

"Well let's just hope of those consequences, baby number two is not one of them."

Tina gasped and snapped her head in Rachel's direction, "you didn't?"

"Oh she most certainly did," Santana grinned.

Quinn cast a glance over her shoulder to make sure the guys were still in the other room, "please tell me you guys did use protection?"

Rachel huffed and crossed her arms, "of course we did! Santana has an economy sized box of condoms underneath the bathroom sink."

"Ew," Tina muttered under her breath. She shook her head, "back to the story at hand, Rachel and Puck had sex last night and…"

Sam's eyes widened as he stopped in his tracks, his mouth was open, ready to ask Quinn if she remembered to make a batch of chocolate chip pancakes when he caught the end of Tina's sentence. "Oh shit, I'm assuming I wasn't supposed to hear that?"

The four girls whipped their heads around.

"This is just ridiculous." Rachel turned to glare at her roommate, "you really can't keep anything to yourself, can you? Need I remind you that you were the one who tried to sneak into the apartment unnoticed at nearly six this morning?"

There was a knock on the apartment door and Santana took the interruption as her chance to get away from what was sure to be a verbal lashing by Rachel. "I'll get that!" She slipped around the counter and disappeared from view.

Quinn shook her head, "and it's not even her apartment."

Rachel fumed as she started to set the table—tables; they had pushed three mismatched tables together to make enough room for everybody to eat together. She felt the little hand tug at her jeans and looked down, "hey, sweetie."

"Is it almost time for brunch? My belly is growling like a lion."

Rachel smiled, she'd known Brody would be hungry before they all got together for brunch, so she'd poured him a bowl of fruity pebbles. Yes, fruity pebbles, there was nothing wrong with having sugar filled cereal on occasion. And by occasion, she meant only on weekends. She should have known the single bowl of cereal wouldn't last long, he did have his father's appetite. "Just about, baby. We just have to wait for a few more people and then…"

"The gang's all here!"

Another fifteen minutes and everybody was finally settled around the tables and passing food around. Rachel had made the mistake of running to the bathroom because when she returned, the only available seat was between Puck and her son. She'd sent Santana a knowing glare before sliding into her seat.

"I can still have bacon, right?" Brody asked immediately.

Rachel nodded, "if that's what you want." As soon as Brody started transferring to table food, Rachel had realized she couldn't force her choice of eating habits on her son, especially with his father's own eating habits. So even after Puck had been incarcerated, Rachel still allowed Brody to eat meat. Except for when they visited Puck's mother; bacon was still a no-no in the Puckerman house.

Brody grinned and clapped his hands, "bring on the bacon, Uncle Artie!"

Things got quiet as everybody dug in and everybody around seemed to sense the awkward vibe that had snuck in. Sam took a sip of his orange juice and looked around, he cleared his throat, "is this where I'm supposed to be a good host and thank everybody for coming?"

Puck rolled his eyes, "this is actually the part where you pass the waffles."

Rachel glared at Puck before turning and giving her best smile (really, the girl could win and Emmy with that smile) to Sam, "I'm really glad you and Quinn offered to host brunch, you guys even remembered the chocolate chip pancakes for Brody." She heard Puck mutter something under his breath and turned sharply in his direction, "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"Nope," he popped the 'p' more than needed. "Not at all."

Rachel knew he was lying, she straightened up, "good, because now is not the time."

"It's never the right time for you, is it, Rachel?" He didn't raise his voice, but the slight edge in it was enough to get everybody's attention if he didn't already have it.

"I think I totally missed something," Matt whispered to his girlfriend.

Mike draped an arm around his girlfriend and took a piece of bacon off her plate, "what did I miss?" He mumbled into her ear.

"Later," Tina answered. From the other side of the table, she could Rachel was putting her guard back up and starting the process of once again burying her emotions.

"Anybody catch the Giants' preseason game on Friday night?" Mike asked suddenly, catching his girlfriend's hint and changing the subject.

Matt nodded, "all I gotta say is let's hope Manning doesn't go down with an injury, they're back-up QB is pathetic."

Sam shook his head, "still gotta represent my Bengals."

Brody grinned, "Who-dey, who-dey! Right, Uncle Sam?"

"You got it, buddy. Hey, maybe if they come to New York this year we can go see them play."

"I think Finn might have mentioned something about them playing here in November," Kurt added casually. "He thought maybe he could catch the game."

That caught Puck's attention, "wait. Why would Hudson worry about catching a Bengals' game here when they'll be at least eight home games he can see?"

"Oh dear," Kurt whispered. He threw Rachel and apologetic look and turned back to Puck, "You didn't hear?"

"Hear what?" Puck asked. And oh yeah, he totally caught the look Kurt gave Rachel.

Quinn shook her head, "it's totally just a rumor. Finn is thinking about moving to New York, but you know Finn, I doubt it will happen."

"Why the heck would Hudson want to move to New York?" this time, Kurt wasn't the only one to throw a not so discreet look Rachel's way. "Rach?"

Rachel cleared her throat, "I don't know. It's been quite some time since I've spoken to Finn."

"But?" He urged.

"There is no but."

"He wants you, doesn't he?"

"Noah…"

Puck shook his head, "this is just great. Like I don't have enough going against me, now I've got to add Hudson to the list. Mr. freaking golden boy!"

Brody could hear the anger in his daddy's voice and he didn't like it. "Don't be mad at my mama."

Puck felt Santana's elbow hit his ribs and grunted. He cleared his throat, avoiding Rachel's gaze and looking past her to their son, "I'm not mad at your mom."

"You promise?"

"I promise," Puck answered. Satisfied, Brody turned back to devouring the food on his plate. Puck turned away and looked back down at his own food, although his appetite had suddenly disappeared.

The rest of brunch went by without incident, but the lingering anger between Rachel and Puck could still be felt. The guys had settled back in the living room, playing more video games while the ladies and Kurt settled around the kitchen.

Santana was a little worried, Rachel hadn't said a single word directly to her since before brunch. "Berry?"

Rachel looked up, her face void of any emotion. "Yes, Santana?"

"You mad?"

"My personal business is really none of your business, but it obviously would have come to everybody's attention sooner or later." Rachel sighed, "so no, I'm not mad at you."

"You know Diva," Kurt started, "it was really only a matter of time. I mean, it had been over a year since you last got some. So I say bravo for finally getting laid, the fact that it was Puckerman was just the cherry on top."

"You know, I…" Rachel was interrupted by her phone going off. She dug it out of her purse and excused herself to the hallway. "Hello?"

"Rachel Berry?"

"This is she."

"I'm Tim Gregory, a friend of your mother's. I saw you perform last night and I'd like to talk to you about an upcoming Broadway show and the possibility of a role."

Rachel's eyes widened, "Tim Gregory? Legendary producer? You want to meet with me?"

He chuckled softly through the line, "Shelby warned me you'd probably be a little shocked. Yes, I would like to meet with you. As soon as possible, actually. Is there sometime this week that works for you?"


	8. Chapter 8

_It's a short chapter but I hope you guys like. ;) Thanks again for all of you who continue to be loyal readers and reviewers. It's much appreciated. _

Look What You've Done

Chapter Eight

Several weeks flew by and things started to settle, well as much as it possibly could. After Rachel's meeting with Tim Gregory and eventual audition, she was rewarded the part of a new Broadway show he'd written. It was already funded and was set to take stage by the end of October. That was just a little over eight weeks away. Her new role would not only be affecting her schedule, but also Brody and Puck's schedule.

She knew she couldn't rely on friend after friend playing babysitter during the day. After all, everybody else had their own daily lives to attend to. Santana was in her last year of law school and was really buckling down and cutting down on her nightlife activity. She'd even slowed things down with Matt, although he did spend the night more often, something Rachel heard through Artie that Puck wasn't too thrilled about.

Artie was busy trying to start his own application for all smart phones while still working full time for the video game development company. He'd even ran into Brittany when she was in town last week, they'd exchanged numbers before she flew back to California and talked on a regular basis. Sam and Quinn announced their engagement just last week, so between the both of them working full time and planning a wedding, they weren't able to babysit much.

Tina offered to help Rachel with the finer details of her career; and at first Rachel had declined, she wanted Tina to go after her own dreams and not live in someone else's shadow. But Tina insisted that she would still continue dancing and acting, but this was something she wanted to do right now. Tina confided in Rachel that she was starting to enjoy the more detailed, inner-workings of the show business and was thinking about starting her own management firm.

Kurt was finishing up his masters at NYU while interning at a fashion magazine uptown and Blaine was staying busy with an off Broadway production of Jersey Boys; so neither had much free time when it came to doting on their favorite little guy.

After a quick, early morning jog, Rachel had come to the conclusion that she needed to enroll Brody into an all-day preschool and set up evenings that he could stay at Puck's. She just had to talk it over with Puck. Talking…with Puck, was something that hadn't really occurred since their night together.

Their friends had actually become buffers of sorts. Santana had been acting as a liaison, being there to let Puck into the apartment so he could spend some time with Brody. Their time together as of late had consisted of having all out epic wars with all of Brody's superheroes or the last time Puck came over, they had built a fort in the middle of the living room and pretended like they were secret agents on a mission to stop the bad guys from taking over the world.

Rachel knew she needed to talk to him, if anything to at least apologize for kicking him out of her bed so rudely a few weeks ago. She also figured including Puck in a decision that affected Brody would maybe show him that she was still trying just as much as he was.

She returned back to her empty apartment and sent Puck a text asking for him to come over in an hour so they could talk. He sent a single letter response with 'k'. Hopefully he'd be a man of a few more words when they were face to face. She knew she could ramble on for hours if left to do so, but she wanted a two sided, open and honest conversation.

She finished showering and dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and pink tank top, layered on top with a form fitting black t-shirt. She ran the towel through her wet hair one last time, trying to soak up the excessive water her hair was still holding before tossing it into the over-flowing hamper. She mentally made a note to do some laundry before she had to leave for rehearsal and leave a note for Santana to do another load when she came back home from the law firm she was interning for.

She heard the two knocks on the apartment door and took one last look in the mirror before answering.

"Hey," Rachel greeted, moving aside and letting Puck enter.

Puck strode straight over to the couch and sat down, "you wanted to talk?" He picked up one of Brody's superhero action figures, intent on not meeting Rachel's eyes.

This is exactly how things had been over the past few weeks, they couldn't even bring themselves to look at each other when in the same room.

"I actually wanted to apologize." That caught Puck's attention. Rachel sighed and took a seat next to him, "I was very disrespectful towards you after our night together."

"I'll say," he muttered.

"I realize that I sounded rather harsh when I asked you to leave…"

He scoffed, "more like demanding I get out of your bed."

"Like I said, I was harsh and for that I apologize." She licked her lips nervously, "Noah? Can you please look at me?" When he did meet her gaze, she wasn't expecting to see the vulnerability it held. "I'm sorry for the way I asked you to leave but…" she cleared her throat, "but I'm not sorry it happened. I just, I just wasn't expecting for it to happen…for us to…you know…"

"Still speechless, babe?" He smirked, "just admit it, I rocked your little world."

She smiled, "just as crass as ever, I see."

He shrugged, "you know, I wasn't really expecting it, either." He smirked, "but it fucking rocked." He nudged her elbow, "you fucking rocked."

After all these years, he still had the ability to make her blush, "_Noah._"

"Just speaking the truth, babe. I suppose it had been a while for you, too?"

"I uh…" Oh yes, another conversation she wasn't quite prepared to have with the father of her son and the man she still held strong feelings for. "I'm not going to lie to you, I did have intercourse with someone while you were in prison. I'm quite ashamed for my actions and I'll understand if you're upset."

"Why?" You honestly expect me to really think you shut down your body for almost two years?" He sighed, his eyes darkened slightly with the seriousness of the situation, "our relationship was on the rocks even before I got locked up. It's cool if you found someone else to satisfy your needs."

"Why are you being understanding about all of this?"

"Because no matter what you do, I can promise you I've fucked up more. Hell, I'm the one that landed in prison."

Rachel sat up straighter, "well I can tell you it was a one-time thing after I had found myself slightly intoxicated and at one of Mike and Tina's dance parties. I also would like to assure you that I have absolutely no interest in Finn, I have no idea what his angle is but I haven't spoken to him in quite some time nor do I care to speak to him again."

"So it wasn't Finn?" Puck blurted out. He just had to know, ok? Seriously, Mr. Golden Boy Hudson always seemed to find a way to show that maybe he should be with Rachel. Lord knows Rachel's dads never hid how much they preferred Finn for their daughter over him.

It took a minute for Rachel to understand Puck's question, when she did, her eyes widened. "No! No, it most certainly was not Finn!" She huffed and crossed her arms, "I'll have you know I'm just as upset with him as you are."

"What do you mean? What the fuck did he do this time?"

It was no secret that Finn and Puck's friendship was more than strained. Ever since high school, when Rachel and Puck started dating, it was like a switch flipped in Finn's mind. It was the final nail in the coffin so speak, Rachel no longer pined after Finn which meant she was no longer controlled by Finn's actions. And Puck had a feeling Finn never got over that.

"His actions are just absolutely absurd." She slipped a few of Brody's toys in the large wicker basket that sat under the coffee table. She'd given up trying to keep all of Brody's toys in his room and had bought the basket as extra storage room for the ridiculous amount of toys the four year old owned. "I'm really at a loss as to what he's trying to accomplish by telling people he might possibly move to New York. Things between us are rocky at best and the last thing either one of us need is his…stupid, goofball and immature behavior being added to the mix." She huffed, "apparently I didn't make things clear back in high school when I told him things were over between us for good."

"Ha, 'stupid, goofball, immature behavior,' is that the best you can come up with? I was thinking more along the lines of ass-wipe or douchebag."

"Yes, I suppose those choice words also describe him quite well." She shook her head, "there's actually something else I wanted to talk to you about."

Puck sat up a little straighter, "Oh yeah?"

The excitement in Puck's voice didn't go unnoticed by Rachel, "it's about Brody."

"He's ok, right?"

"He's fine. He's his rotten, rambunctious, little self." She took a breath, "I've been doing a lot of thinking and while Brody does have a daycare that he goes to when it's necessary, I've decided it might be best to put him in an all-day pre-school."

Puck immediately understood Rachel's angle, this was her offering for him to be a part of an important decision in their son's life. She was showing that she was still trying just as much as he was. It was a definite step, the first step he'd seen in a while. _ Play it cool, Puckerman. _He thought to himself, _don't get too excited. _"That's cool, I guess it would give him more stability."

Rachel grinned, "exactly. I'm glad we're on the same page."

"I just want what's best for my son, Rach." He looked away, "that's all I've ever wanted."

"I know," her words were so quiet if he wouldn't have been watching her lips he would've second guessed his hearing.

They went on to discuss possible pre-schools, and Puck wasn't the least bit shocked when Rachel pulled out a huge stack of papers that had different pre-schools along with the pros and cons of each school and it's tuition, among other random notes and highlighted important sections in brochures. Puck was just happy to be a part of the decision process. They had narrowed it down to three pre-schools when Rachel dropped an even bigger bomb. She wanted to start scheduling a day at least once a week that Brody could spend the day with Puck with the possibility of staying over at Puck's place.

To say he was shocked was an understatement. He wanted to hug her, he wanted to kiss her; but look how well that worked out last time.

"Oh my goodness," Rachel jumped from the couch, spilling over the papers that had been resting in her lap.

"What?" Puck jumped up, "what's wrong?"

"I completely lost track of time!" She rushed around and grabbed her things, throwing her keys and phone into her purse. "I'm going to be late for rehearsal!"

Relieved, Puck took a breath. For a moment there he thought maybe she was going to change her mind. "Wanna traveling buddy?"

Rachel looked up, "pardon?"

"Can I go with you? I mean, I don't have to go into rehearsals but I just…" he shrugged, Noah Puckerman was too much of a badass to be at a loss of words, except of course when it came to his baby mama. "I wanna walk with you, talk some more."

"Ok."

When Rachel returned home late that afternoon, Puck was right behind her, carrying several bags of take-out. He'd stayed around the theater and waited for her while she was in rehearsal. Rachel dropped her keys and purse and took note of the very silent apartment. She looked over at Puck and he cocked a brow, silently mirroring her thoughts.

"It's a little quiet," she noted. "I wonder…."

"Surprise!" Brody jumped up from behind the couch, effectively scaring both of his parents.

"F…" Puck immediately shut up when Rachel's elbow collided with his stomach.

Brody fell back to the floor in a fit of giggles, "it worked! It worked Auntie Santana!"

Santana nodded from her spot in the kitchen, a smile playing on her lips, taking not of how close the former couple was standing next to each other. "Well you've learned from the master." She nodded at the still shocked parents, "you two are late, but seeing as you are holding several bags of takeout, I'll let it slide, this time."

Brody jumped up from the hardwood floor, "are you staying for dinner?" He asked Puck.

Puck smiled, "if it's ok with you."

The four year old nodded, furrowing his brow in deep thought. "So does this mean it's a family dinner?"

Rachel smiled, her eyes glinting, "yeah sweetie, it's like a family dinner."

Brody smiled, "good!" He grabbed his mom's hand and then reached over and held his hand out for his dad, "come on, it's family dinner time!"

Dinner went well, better than Rachel could have even hoped. Brody spent the whole dinner with the three adults' attention completely on him; telling stories about his day and about the new video game Uncle Artie had gotten him.

"But I still like Rock Band the best," he said after much consideration.

"Oh yeah, what do you like better the drums or the guitar?" Puck asked.

"The guitar!" Brody exclaimed, his little feet kicking excitedly underneath the table.

"That's my boy!" He held his hand up, "high five, little man!"

Rachel couldn't help but smile as she watched her son reach his little hand up and high five his father with all the strength his little body held.

"Hey, maybe we can have a boys night sometime and camp out, play video games and eat lots of pizza!"

Brody's head turned to his mom for confirmation, "did you hear that mama?"

Rachel nodded, "I sure did. And if you're ok with spending the night at daddy's place then I'll let you."

"You won't be very far away?" Brody asked, he'd been getting better about being away from his mother, but ever since he'd started crying out at night, he hadn't spent the night away from his mother. It had been nearly four days since he'd woke up crying so maybe it would be ok to try letting Brody spend a night away from home again. "I'll be just a phone call away. But I'm sure you'll be just fine."

"Ok," Brody nodded, "when can I spend the night at daddy's?"

"How about Wednesday?" Rachel suggested. She and Puck had already discussed a day, and Wednesday seemed like the best option.

"Does Wednesday work, daddy?"

Puck nodded, "sure does, buddy."

"Ok." Brody looked back over at his mom, "since me and daddy are going to have a boys day you should have a girls day with Auntie Santana, Quinn and Tina."

Santana grinned, "your boy was reading my mind, Puckleberry, it's a little weird!"

"What's Puckleberry?" Brody asked.

Rachel laughed her eyes briefly meeting Puck's, "that's a story for another day, Brody Bear."


	9. Chapter 9

Not my best work, but here is the next chapter. Thanks for all the fantabulous reviews. If you read...reviewing is just a little mouse click and a few keystrokes away. K, thanks. :)

Chapter Nine

The infectious giggles could be heard through the apartment as Brody bounced around his room, trying his best to focus and clean it up like his mother had insisted. The problem was he kept finding toys he hadn't played with in a while and getting easily distracted with his wild imagination. With his mother's busy schedule, it had been quite a while since she had last told him to clean his room and right now the room looked like the aftermath of a Toys R Us explosion.

Rachel walked down the cluttered hallway of the apartment, picking up toys as she went along. She knew her son was probably doing anything but cleaning his room. With the explosion sounds she heard him making, she had no doubt that Batman and Spiderman were in the middle of an epic fight. Her thoughts were confirmed when she turned into his room and stopped at the doorframe, leaning against it.

"What happened to cleaning your room, Brody?"

Brody jumped and spun around, Batman action figure in one hand and a Spiderman action figure in the other. He'd most definitely been caught. He waved his toys, "I found my actions figures!"

"I see that. You would have found them sooner if your room was kept clean. Did you at least pack everything you'd need like I asked you to?"

"Yep!" Brody discarded his toys and climbed up on to his bed and grabbed his bag. "I packed everything!"

Rachel dug through the contents of the bag, "Batman pajamas?"

"Yep!"

"Toothbrush, toothpaste and a clean set of clothes for tomorrow?"

"Uh-huh."

"Sleeping bag and extra pillow?"

Brody nodded and pointed to the two items at the foot of his bed. His feet dangled off the edge of his bed. "I remembered everything, mama!"

"That doesn't surprise me in the least bit, you're a smart boy." Rachel zipped up Brody's _Cars _backpack and sat down next to her son. "Are you excited for tonight?"

"A little."

"Just a little?"

"It will be fun to play video games with daddy and Uncle Artie."

"But?" Rachel urged.

"I want you to stay with me."

Rachel shook her head, "it's supposed to be guys' night, baby. It'll be fun, you know your way around Uncle Artie's place and I bet your daddy has a lot of fun things planned. You know I'm always just a phone call away, though."

* * *

><p>When Puck opened the door, Rachel was assaulted by Brody's loud cries and Oreo's constant barking. She urgently moved past Puck and reached for Brody. "Oh come here." Rachel embraced her sobbing son and lifted him so he was perched on her hip. She combed her fingers through his curls, pushing them out of his eyes and kissing his forehead. "Why are you upset?"<p>

"I was scared!" The four year old threw his arms around his mother and buried his face in the crook of her neck.

Rachel saw the hurt flash over Puck's eyes as stood back, trying to give them some space. She gave him an apologetic smile. "Why were you scared?" She sat down on the couch and positioned Brody on her lap so she could look at him. She took in the dozens of new toys Puck must have bought for Brody. "You know your daddy would do anything to keep you safe, right? And so would your Uncle Artie."

"I was scared cause I missed you," Brody blubbered. "I don't want you to go away from me forever!"

The young mom's shoulders fell slightly in defeat, this was something they had been dealing with for a while now and she wasn't sure what else she could do or say to convince her son that just because she left for a few hours or even for an evening, she was not leaving him _forever_. "Brody," she said calmly, trying to settle him down and gain his full attention. He shook his head and started wailing louder, "I need you to look at me, sweetie. You're not in trouble but I want you to look at me."

Brody did as his mother said and pulled his hands away from his eyes, he hiccupped, "you're not mad?"

Rachel shook her head and brushed her hands over Brody's cheeks, wiping the remaining tears. "No sweetie, I'm not mad at you." She sighed, "why do you think I'm going to leave you for good? You know I would never, ever do that to you. You're my whole world."

"But daddy left one time!"

Rachel's breath hitched at her son's pained explanation and she couldn't bring herself to look up and see Puck's reaction.

She was surprised when she heard Puck's voice, "and it'll never happen again. I promise." Rachel looked up over her shoulder, drawing her eyes to his; silently challenging his promise to their son. The look in his eyes spoke volumes; the hurt hidden behind the mask of determination to make right by his son startled her.

This was the Noah Puckerman she fell in love with, the guy that would do anything to protect his family and keep them safe. The guy that would go so far as to do something as stupid and unacceptable as dealing drugs so his son could grow up with things that Puck never had as a child. She sucked in a breath, she didn't want the drug dealing Noah Puckerman back, she wanted the love of her life back.

"You promise?" Brody asked between hiccups.

"I promise." Puck cleared his throat, regaining Rachel's attention, "I mean it, Rach."

Rachel nodded, "one day at a time?"

"Yeah, one day at a time." He ran his hand over his head and rubbed some of the tension from the back of his neck. "So what now?"

"What do you say, Brody Bear, do you want to stay? Your daddy was really excited to have you stay over for a guys' night, tonight, so how about you stay here?" Rachel looked over at Puck, silently asking if it was ok. He nodded, and if she wasn't mistaken, she saw a gleam of excitement now brewing in his hazel eyes. "I don't think it would be fair to cancel your plans with your dad," she continued. "He bought you a whole bunch of new toys, you guys ate pizza and…"

"And we drank lots of chocolate milk!" Brody exclaimed.

"Lots of chocolate milk, huh?"

Brody snuggled deeper into his mother's embrace, his arms were grasped around her neck and his head was turned to the side. "Uh-huh. Are you gonna stay with us, mama?"

Before Rachel could respond, Puck answered, "I think you should. It's probably for the best."

"Well how about a movie, then?"

"Can I pick?" Brody asked.

Puck nodded, "sure thing. Artie has a huge collection underneath the television, I'm sure he won't mind if we borrow one."

"An age appropriate one," Rachel reminded. Puck took that as his cue to help puck out a movie and Rachel watched as Brody pointed out several different movies and asked what each was about from his father until finally settling on an old 90's classic, _The Pagemaster._ Rachel wasn't quite sure Brody would like it, but she had a feeling he'd be snoozing the minute his head hit the pillow. 

She'd vaguely heard the continuing conversation Puck and Brody were having as her thoughts got the better of her attention. She was really hoping tonight had gone smoother; not so much for her sake but for Brody's and Puck's. Unfortunately, it seemed like they had a lot more bumps in the road they would be hitting before things smoothed out.

"Rach?" When she looked up, Puck was smirking and holding out one of his t-shirts that would have no problem falling down to her knees, "probably more comfortable than the dress you have on."

Rachel suddenly remembered the rather small dress she was wearing, it was one of Santana's that left very little to the imagination. She looked down at her appearance and blushed, "yeah, it probably would be. Santana managed to somehow convince me to wear it."

"No need to explain yourself," Puck mumbled. He ran his hand over his head and quickly dropped his eyes, a gesture Rachel had long ago picked up as a sign of being uncomfortable.

She took the shirt, smiled appreciatively and slipped into the bathroom across the hall to change. It didn't take long for her to change, she was still worried Brody would have another meltdown and didn't want to be out of his presence for too long.

When she returned, Puck was pulling back the blankets and helping Brody climb into the middle of the bed. She smiled when he took the left side of the bed, some things never change. Her son broke her from her thoughts, beckoning for her to join them. She hit the lights and closed the door before slipping under the covers.

She smiled shyly at Puck, "thanks for the pajamas."

He shrugged, "don't mention it." His gaze fell to the little boy between them, Brody was snuggling into his mother's side, making himself comfortable for sleep. "He's gonna be out in a few minutes." Rachel nodded and slipped her arm around Brody, her hand moving in soothing circles over his back, slowly lulling him to sleep.

"So much for watching a movie." She caught his gaze. "I'm sorry about tonight," she whispered once Brody's breathing had evened and she knew he was indeed asleep. She's spent too many sleepless nights comforted by his breathing and silently assured that things would be ok.

"It's my own fault," Puck answered back, his low voice, fading into the dark. He sighed heavily, "it's always gonna be like this, you know? It's always been like this. No matter how hard I try, I can't make things right."

"I don't believe that."

He scoffed, "you've been my biggest critic since I got out."

"And since when have I been one to not tell it like it is?" Rachel countered. "Would you prefer it if I lied to your face and told you I was completely over the heartbreak and betrayal?"

"At least I didn't sleep with somebody else," he bit back.

Rachel barely made out his words but when she did, she rolled her eyes; not like he could see it, though. "I thought you were ok with that?" How could he be? She wasn't even ok with her actions.

"You really think I would be ok with another guy touching the woman I love?"

"I said it was a mistake," she argued back.

"Just like I said my part in a drug deal was a mistake. How is I'm supposed to forgive your mistakes if you can't forgive mine?"

Rachel shifted underneath the covers, careful of her son. "Can we just call it a night?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Puck rolled over so his back was to Rachel. He tugged slightly at the comforter, knowing how much it annoyed Rachel.

When Rachel poked her head out from under her pillow the next morning she was slightly confused as to where she was and why she was waking up in an unfamiliar bed. She shifted and took note of the oversized Ohio State t-shirt she was wearing and gasped. "Oh no," she whispered. "Not again."

She flipped onto her back and stared blankly up at the ceiling above her, trying to recollect last night's events; getting a frantic call from Puck while she was out with the girls, Brody crying hysterically and arguing with Puck. The last thing she remembered was the three of them settling into bed, she'd been the last to fall asleep; her thoughts had been on overload. Well at least sex didn't happen last night. She was interrupted by a faint giggle she heard coming from the other side of the closed bedroom door.

Out in the hallway, Puck carried the tray of breakfast he and Brody had prepared. Ok, so it was mainly him who did all the work while Brody made a mess. But nonetheless, Puck could see happiness in his son's eyes and that was enough for him.

"Shh," Puck insisted. "We have to be quiet so we can make it a surprise, ok?" Brody nodded, concealing his giggles by covering his mouth. "Can you open the door?"

"Yep. Can I jump up on the bed? Will that surprise her?"

"Sure."

Rachel could hear the click of the door and settled back beneath the covers, closing her eyes and deciding to play along. Almost immediately she felt the bed sink with Brody's weight as he climbed up and scrambled over to her, "Mama! Time to wake-up, sleepy head! We gotta surprise for you!"

"A surprise, hmm?" She kept her eyes closed, soaking in the rare moment of a happy little family.

"Yep! Do you want a hint?"

"Sure."

"It's yummy!"

Rachel laughed and opened her eyes, "it's yummy?" Brody nodded and she looked over his shoulder, smiling at the sight of Puck in nothing but a pair of red basketball shorts and carrying a tray of homemade breakfast. "How yummy?"

"Very yummy! We made pancakes and eggs and don't tell bubba but we made bacon, too."

Puck laughed at his son's obsession with bacon, "good to know he's well aware of my ma's distaste for bacon."

"He is your son, after all." She sat up and patted the bed, "well what are you two waiting for, let's dig in!"

They had just settled into bed with the tray sitting in front of them when Puck's phone went off. He shoved rest of the piece of bacon in his mouth and picked up his phone, he groaned at the caller I.D. "It's my ma." He didn't even bother to swallow the mouthful of food before answering, "hey ma."

Brody giggled at his father's actions and looked up at his own mother, "it's good bubba can't smell through the phone."

Rachel actually laughed out loud but stopped suddenly and widened her eyes; she knew her laugh carried. She shared a look with Puck.

"Noah Puckerman, did you just answer your phone with your mouth full? And did I hear laughing in the background?"

"Would you rather I didn't answer the phone at all? Could've ignored you and finished my breakfast in peace." He smoothly avoided her second question.

Or so he thought.

"Who are you having breakfast with?"

Puck rolled his eyes, "Brody. Last night was guys' night."

"Hmm, so Rachel has actually decided to let you see your son?"

"Ma," Puck chided. "Don't be like that, I see him all the time. Things are going really well here."

"Is she with you guys?"

"What?"

"Is Rachel with you? Does she trust you to be alone with your son?"

"What if she is? What does that have to do with anything? We were having a perfectly good breakfast until you called."

Rachel noticed the darkening of Puck's eyes and thought maybe he should have this phone conversation while alone. Not to mention she was not up for hearing a one-sided conversation of Puck's mother bashing her. "Come on Brody Bear, let's go get some more juice," she whispered. When she climbed out of bed, her body reacted to the missing warmth the pile of blankets had provided. She looked around and picked up one of Puck's hoodies and pulled it over her head.

"I guess you guys gotta go?" Puck asked when he joined the two in the living room half an hour later, after hanging up from the useless conversation he'd just had with his mother. Brody was sitting next to his mom on the couch, happily invested in some cartoon.

Rachel nodded, avoiding his gaze. "I have press to do today before rehearsal."

"Who is watching Brody?"

"Kurt is going to stop by my place and spend the afternoon with him until Santana comes home from the law office she is interning at," Rachel explained. "We should really schedule times to check into the pre-schools. Maybe you could write up your work schedule for next week and we can figure something out. I know you have regular hours with the production company but I wasn't sure about the club you work at.

Puck smirked, nobody had figured out what club he was working at yet. "I get my schedule at work tonight, I'll stop by your place afterwards."

"Or you could just tell me and I could meet you there for a drink?"

"Nice try, Berry." He grabbed Brody's bag and opened up the door to the apartment, he couldn't help but let his eyes roam Rachel's body. "Did you put your dress back on underneath my hoody?"

Rachel blushed, "I had to. I can't be walking around the city with just an over-sized hoody on. Not to mention, I already look like I'm doing the morning after walk of shame that Santana has perfected over the years."

Puck chuckled, "well how about we get a cab and I ride over to your apartment with you two?"

Nodding, Rachel smiled. "Sounds good." She looked back up and cleared her throat, completely ready to recite the apology she had outlined in her head. "And about last night…."

He shook his head, "we'll talk about it tonight."

"But I just don't want it to always be like that…one step forward and two steps backwards," she continued. "I want us to be able to properly communicate with one another and solve our problems as the mature adults that we are."

"Rach," Puck interrupted. "One day at a time, right?"

She smiled, "right."


End file.
